Projo Sox Blog

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- For injured infielder Nick Green, who spent much of this season starting at shortstop and hoping to help his team win, success has been redefined to consist of a good day taking ground balls, or a fine session of hitting in the batting cage.

Now, as Green tries to come back from a herniated disk in time for a possible ALCS appearance, he says he feels much better than he did last week, but hasn't improved much in the past two days; his status for a potential next round remains uncertain.

"I think it's possible. I don't know. Obviously you don't know how it's going to continue to progress. If it continues to progress, like it has been, then yeah. But if it just stays the way it is, then I'll be the same as I am right now," Green said of the possibility of returning to the field next week if the Red Sox advance to the next round.

The disk issue has sapped the strength in Green's leg, to the point that he was too weak to join the Division Series roster, and was replaced by Jed Lowrie as the utility infielder. Last week, Green couldn't move well when trying to take ground balls. This week, he's felt better taking grounders and working in the cage, but he's still fatiguing quickly. He's also not sure how his body would respond if it was pressed to operate at full game speed.

"I'm making progress, but as far as game speed and stuff, I'm not sure," Green said. "It's felt the same for the last couple days."

He certainly felt better Tuesday and Wednesday than he did Thursday and Friday, which he attributes to the quick turnaround between fielding grounders and running inside to hit.

"It's felt great the workout days, the last two days, it's been different, because I had to hit in the cage, so it's like, ground balls, then hurry up and get in and hit, and it doesn't give me time to recover," Green said.

-- DANIEL BARBARISI

 Tags  Boston Red Sox Dan Barbarisi Jed Lowrie Nick Green

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