Down Goes Youk by Jared Carrabis
Youk to undergo an MRI on ankle


Youk may be all smiles in the photos above, but certainly there is no way he can be smiling after being sent back to Fort Myers, ending his time with Team USA in 2009.

Youkilis booked his reservations at the Red Sox Injury Hotel "three or four days ago," according to Team USA manager, Davey Johnson, but did not check in until Wednesday when his name was officially removed from the roster.

"He wasn't going to miss last night's game for the world," Johnson said.

In that game, Youkilis hit a solo home run en route to an exciting comeback victory. Youkilis leaves the Classic, having gone 4-for-22 with 6 RBI, with three of those four hits being home runs.

"Team USA reliever Brad Ziegler told Nelson that Youkilis could barely walk through the locker room after the game because of the pain," reports the Boston Globe. This is certainly not a good sign, but I'm not one to send fans into a panic before I fully understand the extent of an injury.

The Boston Herald speculates that Youkilis has suffered a mild sprain in his ankle with some inflammation in the left Achilles' area.

With Youkilis being the second Red Sox player to have suffered an injury during the World Baseball Classic, the Red Sox organization, along with the fans, will likely sweat bullets until Daisuke Matsuzaka, who is pitching for Team Japan, returns home in one piece. This nervousness caused by uncertainty is for a reason. Both Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis could easily have suffered these injuries playing in Grapefruit League games.

However, Daisuke Matsuzaka is being asked to perform at a high level with the pride of his country weighing on his shoulders. This competitive nature coming at a very early time of the season may cause Matsuzka to overexert himself. This is not something that neither he nor the Red Sox can afford at this point, as the Red Sox Injury Hotel reaches its maximum capacity.

Cross your fingers and hold your breath,
-Jared Carrabis

Published on March 18, 2009

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