With Jed Lowrie Out, Nick Green Gets Opportunity To Start For Red Sox

After a 1-for-18 start, it turns out Jed Lowrie wasn't playing at 100 percent. The Boston shortstop found himself on the DL this morning (retroactive to April 12) with a sprained left wrist, and the Red Sox found themselves desperately thin at the position.

Nick Green will now get the bulk of the playing time at shortstop, and will be backed up by Gil Velazquez who was called up by the Red Sox shortly after the team deactivated Lowrie.

Green was not expecting this type of opportunity, but stressed the importance of being ready for it at any time.

"As a competitor, you want to play," Green told Ian Browne of RedSox.com. "You never want to see somebody get hurt. Hopefully he's fine. It's one of those things, I've got to be ready to play. That's my job. That's what I'm trying to do. You just have to be ready to perform if you do get the opportunity."

Green went 0-for-2 in his first start of the season for the Red Sox, batting ninth. If not a strong bat, Green will provide Boston with a stable defensive presence at shortstop.

Team doctors examined Lowrie Monday, with updates yet to come. Lowrie played the last two months of the 2008 season with a small non-displaced fracture in the same left wrist, a primary reason for the precautionary measures being taken by the Red Sox.

Julio Lugo has been on the DL since the end of spring training while recovering from knee surgery. Despite Lowrie's injury, the Red Sox have no intention of rushing him back to action.

The Red Sox are off to a 2-5 start, including 0-2 for Jon Lester, whom the Athletics tagged for six earned runs Monday night. Despite a 14-for-27 start for Kevin Youkilis, they are hitting .235 as a team through Monday.