Daniel Nava is back in the majors after a roller coaster 2011 (WEEI.com/John Vu)

Daniel Nava‘s arrival in the big leagues was one of a great and improbable player development story, a player who was undersized throughout high school and had all but given up on playing baseball at the college level — let alone professionally — before a late growth spurt led him to a batting title in the West Coast Conference, an independent league tenure and, eventually entry into the Red Sox system. At 27, he hit a grand slam on the first pitch he saw in the majors on June 12, 2010, and while he endured ups and downs that year, he played in 60 games and hit .242 with a .351 OBP and .711 OPS as a rookie.

But just as quickly as he rose from obscurity, he returned to it in 2011. On May 20, he was hitting .189 with a .574 OPS in 36 games, and the Sox designated the switch-hitter for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Drew Sutton. Any team in baseball could have had him, but instead, Nava sailed through outright waivers and remained with the Sox in Triple-A.

He could have lamented his fate, dwelled on the reality that his trip to the majors in 2010 might be his only shot. Instead, he used that moment as an opportunity to reset and renew his career.

“I struggled a lot for a while last year. It allowed me to find myself again as a hitter,” said Nava. “I wasn’t myself. I was trying to do a lot of things that put me in a state where I was pressing. … Unfortunately, that’s what happened, but fortunately, I learned from it. Basically, I felt like when I was hitting .199, you can’t do too much worse. I had nothing to lose. I just went back to me. And I’m glad I have another shot.

“I had nothing else to lose at that point,” Nava said. “I was designated, taken off the 40-man, all that stuff. Who’s going to pick up someone who couldn’t hit water if he fell out a boat, so to speak? It allowed freedom. Let’s just go back to me, not worry about anything and let that take over.”

The challenge he faced, in many respects, was more psychological than physical. Read the rest of this entry »

Will Middlebrooks hit his first big league homer on Sunday. (AP)

As he demolished Triple-A pitching this season, the excitement about Will Middlebrooks built steadily. In the matter of a single homestand, that promise and potential that has been so commonly associated with the 23-year-old was on full display. On Sunday, it was encapsulated most dramatically by a single swing of the bat.

With the Red Sox trailing 5-1 and the bases loaded, Middlebrooks stepped up to the plate and delivered in a big way, sending a Tommy Hunter pitch over the Green Monster and onto a parking garage on Lansdowne Street, transforming what had been a rout into a tie ballgame.

“It was probably the biggest rush of my life, to be honest,” Middlebrooks said after the game.

Though the Red Sox ultimately lost 9-6 in what turned out to be a 17-inning, six-hour affair, the emergence of Middlebrooks — who was rated as the organization’s top prospect by Baseball America heading into the 2012 season — was undoubtedly the biggest positive for the Sox in a 1-5 homestand in which silver linings were few and far between.

With Kevin Youkilis on the 15-day disabled list with a lower back strain, this recent homestand has provided Middlebrooks with his chance to prove his value at the major league level after posting impressive numbers this season in Pawtucket. In 24 games with the PawSox, the 23-year-old third baseman slugged nine home runs, which placed him second among International League batters, to go along with a .333 batting average, .380 OBP, .677 slugging mark, 1.057 OPS and 27 RBIs.

After being called up, Middlebrooks wasted no time in his debut, going 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base on May 2 against Oakland and adding a double in six plate appearances on Friday. Tightness in his left hamstring forced Middlebrooks out of Saturday’s 8-2 loss to the Orioles. Read the rest of this entry »

PAWTUCKET, R.I. — The offensive aspect of Carl Crawford‘s game was answered Friday night as he went 1-for-2 with a walk in three plate appearances in his first of two minor league rehab assignments with the PawSox. Crawford also scored and drove in a run in Pawtucket’s 3-2 win over Durham at McCoy, helping Kevin Millwood improved to 5-0 in his minor league assignment with the Red Sox.

Crawford drove in Che-Hsuan Lin from third on a broken bat single to center, hanging in on a changeup from Durham starter Alex Torres in the first inning.

The biggest and best test of his left hamstring came in the third when he took ball 4 on a full count. After showing his batting eye hasn’t been affected in his month off, he took off for second on a hit-and-run on a single by Ryan Lavarnway. As important as his explosion from first was, his ability to put on the breaks around second was just as significant. He did both cleanly.

“The most important thing was being able to take out of the [batter's] box like I normally can, being able to move quick without worrying about my hamstring and I had a few moments today where I was able to test it,” Crawford said after his 20-minute treatment in the whirlpool.

“That felt good, that was a time I had to test it and it felt good. When you stop like that, something can happen. So when you stop real quick and nothing happens, that’s a good sign.”

Crawford advanced to third on a single to left but was held up around third. He faced the hard-throwing lefty Torres in the first and righty Lance Cormier in the third and fifth.

“Getting back out here and seeing live pitching definitely helped me,” Crawford said. “It’s all about the timing. You’ve got a lefty throwing pretty hard so I tried to see a few and make the adjustments I need to make from there. It was a little challenging but I was able to make a few adjustments.”

Crawford grounded a ball into the hole at short after Daniel Nava singled to open the fifth. Nava appeared safe at second but was ruled out, costing Crawford his second single.

There would be no hard running on the bases this time as Lavarnway blasted a long homer to left, allowing Crawford to easily jog the bases on the round-tripper that made it 3-1 PawSox.

Crawford’s only defensive chance came in the fourth when caught a fly ball off the bat of J.J. Furmaniak.

Crawford will play again Saturday night for Pawtucket before taking Sunday off. If his left hamstring responds, he will be activated for Monday’s game in Baltimore.

“We’re just trying to get my legs back under me right now so we didn’t see the need to play nine innings,” Crawford said of playing just five innings Friday. “As long as I was able to the things that I can do when I’m in the big leagues, that’s all I need to do. Just see if I can do it two days in a row. Just want to do everything two days in a row, make sure there’s no pain and nothing like that. After that happens, I’ll be ready to go.”

Daniel Nava made a name for himself on his first big league swing last June.

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Nearly every Red Sox fan remembers how Daniel Nava broke into the majors last June.

With the bases loaded, he drilled the first pitch he saw in the big leagues – an offering from Philadelphia’s Joe Blanton – over the fence in right at Fenway.

On Sunday morning, he was optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket by the Red Sox as the team trimmed three more players off the major league squad. Also optioned was catcher Mark Wagner while righthander Matt Fox was reassigned.

Such is the life of a major leaguer on the fringes. But Red Sox manager Terry Francona offered perspective Sunday in assessing where the 28-year-old in his development.

“He didn’t swing the bat real well this spring, which in the grand scheme of things means nothing,” Francona said of Nava, who batted just .205 this spring in 19 games, with three RBIs.. “I think he was fighting it all spring. He got a little length in his swing. He knows he needs to shorten it up but he’s improved so much [defensively] in the outfield.”

“I mean, last year at this time, I’m willing to bet no one ever asked me a Daniel Nava question. He’s come a long way. He just needs to go play and then whatever happens, happens. Guys play themselves into the mix. The fact that we’re talking about Daniel Nava means he’s come so far.”

Francona added that the organization still projects Nava as primarily a left fielder.

Wagner hit .167 in nine games this spring while Fox was 0-0 with a 2.57 ERA in five relief appearances. But Francona was quick to point out that it’s Wagner’s defensive skills – especially game managing behind the plate – the organization really values. Last year, that was stunted when he missed nearly half the season with Triple-A Pawtucket because of a broken bone in his left hand. Surgery was eventually required and now, he begins 2011 with a fresh start. Read the rest of this entry »

Terry Francona

Red Sox manager Terry Francona made his last appearance of the season on the Dale & Holley show Thursday afternoon after being delayed one day due to the Randy Moss trade coverage. Francona talked about his thoughts on the trade, as well as ESPN’s 30-for-30 show about the Red Sox’ 2004 World Series run, and the start to his baseball offseason.

“I’m having knee surgery on Wednesday,” Francona said. “Next time you guys see me, I’m going to be 6-foot-1 and not bow-legged. I’m going to get that extra half-inch back, and I’m going to have to buy some new jeans.”

Following are highlights from the conversation. To listen to the interview, check out the Dale & Holley audio on demand page.

What did you think of the Randy Moss trade?

I don’t know. I don’t know. I’m sure there’s a lot going on in those walls that we’re not privy to that would be really interesting.

How do you handle personalities on the team, especially ones that become agitated or irritated?

Well, it’s not just how to handle it — sometimes I’m not sure you do. I think what you have to figure out is when does the production better outweigh the amount of headaches. When that stops happening, then I think teams start looking at different ways to look things.

Is there one thing that you can’t get past, in terms of player’s attitudes?

That doesn’t happen too much here. There are some things that probably aren’t very serious, you know. Go back to Jay Payton. Jay didn’t want to be here. We had a little episode in the dugout where it got a little loud, and so we kind of had to back up, you know, what I said. Don’t want to happen very often. That puts me in a tough spot, and I don’t like doing that. Since then, Jay and I have talked a couple of times, so that’s OK.

Again, when you get emotional during a game, you try not to say things that you either don’t mean or you have to carry out on, you know. You try to stay a little even-keeled and make good decisions not based on emotion, because that’s where you make mistakes.

Is it safe to say that one of the jobs of a manager is to praise publicly and criticize privately?

I agree with that. I don’t know that everybody does, everybody has their own style. Again, if we have a message to deliver that’s maybe not going to be real popular, we do it behind closed doors. That’s how I would like to be treated. I wouldn’t want to be embarrassed in front of the public. I think players just like to know that the manager kind of has their back. That doesn’t mean we don’t talk to them, and they all know that. But we don’t need to do it through the media.

Read the rest of this entry »

Daniel Nava makes a diving catch in left field to keep the Red Sox ahead of the Angels. (AP)

It’s not how you start, but how you finish.

That was never more true than on Wednesday night as Daniel Nava made a spectacular diving grab off a fast-sinking liner to left off the bat of Maicer Izturis to end the eighth inning.

With two outs and runners on first and second and the Red Sox clinging to a 6-5 lead over the Angels, if the ball hits the grass, the game would surely be tied.

The speedy Alberto Callaspo, who had already annoyed the Red Sox with three great defensive plays, would surely score from second and pinch runner Brandon Wood would have made it to third base and Daniel Bard and the Sox would be in deep doo-doo. But the catch nearly didn’t happen because of a mistake a lot of outfielders make, even when they’re kids.

“I did the old Little League thing, first step back and then once I saw it, I was like, ‘I’ve got to get moving,’ ” Nava said. “Yeah, initially I went back but then I had to cruise on in.”

Leave it to Nava, a Californian, to put it in those terms. Just like his personality, laid back and smiling all the while.

After taking a misstep backward, Nava quickly corrected himself and took off with everything he had. He dove at the last possible moment and extending his right arm, he caught the ball just before it hit the ground. Inning over. Threat averted. Game saved. Season still alive.

And for those thinking that’s hyperbole, consider the Red Sox would have fallen 6 1/2 games behind the Rays and Yankees in the AL East and seven games back in the loss column.

“That was huge,” third baseman Adrian Beltre said. “That gave me goose bumps right there. It was a huge turnaround right there it would’ve been a tie ball game right there and somebody else coming up to hit. That was huge. Might have been the play of the game right there.”

Francona agreed with his third baseman’s assessment.

“He might have taken one step back but he recovered with the timing of it, guys on base, probably play of the game,” Francona said.

Nava didn’t just do it with his glove. He used his whole body on Wednesday. Pinch-hitting for Darnell McDonald in the seventh and the bases loaded in a tie game, Nava fell behind two strikes to flame-throwing Kevin Jepsen but then the Red Sox caught a huge break. Jepsen came inside with a 95 mph heater. It drilled Nava in the right rib cage, a sensitive area for the Red Sox this season to be sure. But it forced in David Ortiz with the go-ahead run.

“Don’t know how great an at-bat it was,” Nava admitted. “I was in an 0-2 hole. Anytime they want to hit me, I’m happy to take it in that situation.”

Daniel Nava took a 95 mile-per-hour fastball to the ribs with the bases loaded to break a 5-5 tie and then made a sensational diving grab of a sinking liner as the Red Sox erased a 5-2 deficit and beat the Los Angeles Angels, 7-5, Wednesday night at Fenway Park. WEEI.com’s John Vu was at Fenway to capture some images from the win. Click on the image below to launch a slide show.

(John Vu/WEEI.com)