Two fierce rivals in the AL East Rivals who get a lot of action vs. the baseball lines are dealing with injuries. The Boston Red Sox put outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury back on the disabled list while the New York Yankees just activated their centerfielder, Curtis Granderson. The Red Sox have played much better recently and they are a factor again vs. the baseball odds.
Baseball lines regularly favor the Yankees and the Red Sox. Boston was in sad shape a couple of weeks ago but they have played much better of late even with their injury issues. Ellsbury has played in only nine games this season. The Red Sox star second baseman, Dustin Pedroia has played through his injury. He twisted his right knee on May 15th and since that time he has not hit well. Before the injury he was hitting almost .300. Since he got hurt he is hitting below .200.
The Yankees have had injury issues of their own that have affected their baseball odds. New York got centerfielder Curtis Granderson back recently and he should definitely help their lineup. He had been out since early May with a groin injury. With his return, Brett Gardner can move back to left field and Nick Swisher and DH. The Yankees regular DH, Nick Johnson went on the DL and it has been a rotating situation at designated hitter ever AL East Rivals since.
The Yankees are still very good offensively as they rank #1 in the league. Getting Granderson back into the lineup will help though as he is a player who can get on base, steal bases and hit for average. He is similar in some respects to Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury who is out. The Red Sox have missed Ellsbury in their order this season. Boston has picked it up lately offensively but they still need Ellsbury in their lineup as he does many of the same things that Granderson does for the Yankees.
Injuries are always a concern for teams during the long baseball season. While the Yankees and Red Sox have survived without key players it is definitely more difficult. New York and Boston were expected to battle all season for the American League East title but so far this season it has been Tampa Bay who has stolen the show.