The Iggy effect

Sean Riley
Contributing Writer

Jose Iglesias has earned what seems to be a very steady role on the Red Sox 25 man roster. With the return of Will Middlebrooks from injury many expected Iglesias to stay in the bigs with his hot bat and Pedro Ciriaco become the odd man out. This will not be the typical utility infielder most are used to seeing on a big league team. Manager John Farrell has made their plan for Iglesias pretty clear as Boston will look to give him steady playing time.

"We're going to do everything we can to get Jose three days a week on the left side of the infield," said John Farrell. "Everyone is aware of that plan going forward. The fact is, we've got a pretty deep 25-man roster and we can afford to keep some guys' legs fresh as we get into hotter months and deeper into the season."

Stephen Drew has played a solid shortstop this season but his inconsistent offense could also lead to increased playing time for the young Iglesias. Filling in for Middlebrooks over the past two weeks, Jose caught fire an has a 13 game hitting streak with a .435 average. As Farrell stated they will look to play Iglesias at short and thirdbase to spell both Drew and Middlebrooks. It's pretty clear Iron Man, Dustin Pedroia, doesn't sit often but Iglesias could give Pedroia some rest at second as well.

"I think there's a lot of benefit to continuing to get exposure and experience at the big leagues," said Farrell. "We feel three days a week is not going to cause someone to go backwards in terms of their timing. The days in between his starts are now going to be as important as those games played to stay sharp and stay ready to step in when in the lineup."

Moving forward we'll get a chance to see what the kid has. I'm interested in seeing how Iglesias handles playing a few days a week and like Farrell said how he preps between games. This will give the Red Sox organization answers moving forward about his character and how he reacts in adverse situations.