Lowrie out 2-3 months

Boston's vaunted depth is already being sorely tested with Daisuke Matsuzaka, Jed Lowrie, Julio Lugo and Mark Kotsay on the disabled list. Now fourth outfielder Rocco Baldelli has joined them due to a hamstring injury, necessitating Jeff Bailey's callup from Pawtucket.

Everyone knew the Red Sox had pitching options aplenty, but they were supposed to lack offensive replacements in the high minors this season. Fortunately, Nick Green, who received just 121 major league at-bats over the previous three seasons, has done a fine job while filling in at shortstop. Almost exclusively a second baseman when he started 61 games for the Braves in 2004 and 94 for the Rays in 2005, he's already bested his career high for starts at shortstop with eight and he's been very steady, even if he did get charged with his second error for mishandling a cue shot to his right on Monday.

With Lowrie opting for surgery on his troublesome wrist, Lugo will be the regular shortstop upon rejoining the Red Sox next week. Green, though, will get to stick as a utilityman. Lowrie is likely to miss 2-3 months following the procedure.

The Red Sox don't lack choices when it comes to pitching. However, they did get another scare last week when Clay Buchholz injured a hamstring at Triple-A Pawtucket. He's supposed to be fine to make his next start, but the injury made the decision to shift Justin Masterson into the rotation a lot easier. Masterson pitched 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball to beat the Orioles on Monday. He's due to make at least a couple of more start before Dice-K returns.