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Projo SoxTalk with McAdam: Tired Okajima; Jacoby's the man

Click here to listen to the full audio as Sean McAdam joins us for today's edition of projo SoxTalk. The topics: the worn-down Hideki Okajima; Curt Schilling's up-and-down night; why Jacoby Ellsbury is a better option (for now) than J.D. Drew; Manny Ramirez's health; and the possibility of Matt Clement pitching again in a Red Sox uniform.

Here are some excerpts from Sean's comments:

On bullpen fatigue: "Certainly the unavailability of Gagne for the about the last 10 days now has impacted things. His very acquisition was designed to take some of the workload off Okajima in the second half, and because he was in turn ineffective and then unavailable, they've had to run Okajima out there on a pretty regular basis, and that's something they wanted to avoid. I think that, should Gagne come back -- and he will have a bullpen [session] today and probably be, I would imagine, available starting tomorrow night -- if he can come back and be healthy and effective, that probably straightens it out."

On Ellsbury: "I think he has really caught [the team's] attention with his poise and ability to fit right in, and not be overwhelmed by circumstances. And correspondingly, Drew -- I think everyone has waited for that explosion ... and it hasn't happened, and you start to wonder if it's going to happen this year. And if you start comparing the two, I'm not sure that J.D. Drew, with about eight years in the big leagues, has all that much over Jacoby Ellsbury beyond than experience right now."

On Ramirez: "Frankly I would be surprised if you saw him any earlier than that next road trip, which goes to Toronto and Tampa. I guess it's possible he might be available for the Yankees series next weekend, but clearly he's not ready to partake in the Tampa Bay series when they come back home if he hasn't even started baseball activities. ... I think the important thing right now is that he gets his timing down at the plate when he comes back enough to get himself into the postseason feeling ready, and having faced some live pitching, and most importantly healthy again."

Posted by Mike McDermott  at 12:05 PM to McAdam | Permalink