As feared, Red Sox closer Andrew Bailey is facing thumb surgery. Rob Bradford of WEEI reports that on Wednesday Bailey will undergo a procedure to reconstruct the ulnar collateral ligamen in his right thumb. It's not certain how Bailey was injured. "When I talked to him before he left, he was unknowing," manager Bobby Valentine told the AP. "He felt a little something. There really wasn't a defining moment, in the last conversation I had with him."
The surgery, which will be perfomed on Bailey's throwing hand, will mean an absence of at least three months, although injury expert Will Carroll tweets that a three-to-four-month covalescence is "on the low end" of timetable estimates. Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald, meanwhile, cites a club source that says Bailey will be sidelined four-to-five months. "I don't think it will be before the All-Star break - is what the trainer told me," Valentine said when asked for a time frame for Bailey's return.
While Bailey is out, Mark Melancon and Alfredo Aceves will receive most of the save opportunities. "The guys that you've seen in the bullpen are going to hold down the fort, and do a job to help us win a lot of games," Valentine confirmed. "I think you saw Aceves there at the end; you'll see him at the end of games. Melancon will be there at the end of games, for sure. ... Detroit will find out hopefully on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday."
The loss of Bailey has consequences for the already-thin Boston rotation, as Aceves, who contended for a starter's job for much of the spring, is suddenly a vital presence in the bullpen. And that's to say nothing of Josh Beckett's ongoing injury concerns.
So far, so bad for the 2012 Red Sox, who are aiming for redemption after last season's impossible collapse.
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