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Manny Wants At-Bats

Boston manager Terry Francona said a few minutes ago during his daily media briefing that Manny Ramirez (strained left oblique) visited his office this afternoon and asked where he could go to get in some at-bats before returning to big-league action.

"I tried to explain to him, well, that would be with us," said Francona with a chuckle. "There's no place to send him."

That's because the Instructional League hasn't started yet and the Red Sox' minor-league teams are finished with their respective seasons.

Francona said he appreciated Ramirez approaching him to let him know he's getting close, but the manager still thinks he could be "2-3-4 days out" from playing. One possibility for at-bats is a simulated game, but Francona said he "wasn't excited about" that possibility, no doubt because it hardly approaches game situations.

Once Ramirez is ready to return, though, Francona said the slugging left fielder will just have to work his way back into a groove.

"When he's ready to play we'll play him," said Francona. "You hope a guy gets hot (when he comes back) but we'll keep running him out there and let him get comfortable again. There's nothing else to do."

-- Steven Krasner

Posted by Steven Krasner  at 5:31 PM | Permalink