J.D. Drew

Terry Francona sounded like a doctor making rounds in his pregame press conference on Friday when he offered updates on the slew of players battling through injuries. The newest revelation regarded J.D. Drew, who has been out since July 19 with what was originally a shoulder impingement. During a rehab stint with Triple-A Pawtucket, Drew earned more time on the DL when he suffered an avulsion fracture to his middle finger.

Now, Drew has a new health concern.

“[Drew] had a little bit of a neck problem yesterday so we’ll wait a little bit,” Francona said.

Francona had better news about Friday’s starting pitcher Josh Beckett, who has not pitched since Sept. 5 due to a sprained ankle. Beckett is not on a pitch count and Francona expects Beckett to pitch with no limitations.

“It’s been 11 days [since he last pitched],” said Francona. “It’s not like it’s been forever. Again, we’ll keep an eye on it. If there are limitations, they would be if he was stiff or tired or something like that, but I don’t think we need to put a number on him going into the game.”

Francona also confirmed that Kevin Youkilis will not play Friday or Saturday due to discomfort from bursitis and a sports hernia. Youkilis was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts in Thursday’s 9-2 loss to the Rays. Mike Aviles will get the start at third base on Friday.

“We’re going to have to let this thing calm down a little and then we’ll go from there,” Francona said. “How much [and] when we get out of him will be determined by how quickly he recovers and how good he feels, because last night, he didn’t feel very good and it was pretty obvious.”

- Francona had no updates on pitchers Erik Bedard (strained lat) and Clay Buchholz (stress fracture in back), but he did name some of next week’s starters. John Lackey will pitch one game of the doubleheader against the Orioles on Monday and Kyle Weiland will make his next start on Tuesday night. Francona said he does not know who the second starter will be on Monday but said he is reluctant to give the start to Alfredo Aceves.

“If you’re going to start [Aceves], you’re losing him for three days beforehand and three days after,” said Francona. “Right now, I don’t think that makes us a better team.”

Although there are an abundance of call-ups to help out in the bullpen should Aceves have to start, Aceves has been one of the strongest relievers outside of Jonathan Papelbon since Daniel Bard‘s recent struggles.

Aceves has a 1.48 ERA in his last 12 outings, striking out 24 while allowing just four earned runs in 24 1/3 innings of work. Francona has little room for error when it comes to fiddling with his pitching staff since the Red Sox enter Friday night’s game just three games ahead of the Rays in the wild card race.