Well At Least Adrian Gonzalez Decided To Show Up At Some Point This Season

The Red Sox season might be on the road to nowhere but hey, at least Adrian Gonzalez is putting up numbers which will look good on your computer screen when you look them up years later.

For the second time in 2012 and seventh time overall in his career (5 with the Padres in the National League), Gonzalez received an AL Player of the Week award today that he shares with Baltimore Orioles rookie Manny Machado.

Though Boston only went 3-4 last week, Gonzalez continues to tear the cover off the ball; he was 11-for-28 (.393) with two home runs and an MLB-leading 14 RBIs. He has paced the AL with 35 RBIs since the All-Star break while he has hit .393 (42 for 107) in 28 games.

Along with those power numbers, he was able to do his favorite thing last week-hit doubles. Gonzalez had seven doubles, including three (tying a career-high) against Texas in a 10-9 loss last Wednesday night at Fenway Park. In that game, he scored three runs and added three RBIs.

After a slow first half and particularly curious lack of power, his hitting has rounded into form mostly since he is a robot sent from the future to hit and be painfully boring. Going into tomorrow night's series opener against the Orioles at Camden Yards, Gonzalez is hitting .309 with an .354 OBP and .478 SLG with 13 homers and a team-leading 80 RBIs. The most impressive part on a team that has been ravaged with injuries is that he's only missed two games out of 116.

UPDATE 8/14: The Red Sox traded backup catcher Kelly Shoppach to the Mets for a player to be named later. This paves the way for Ryan Lavarnway to be the full-time backup to Jarrod Saltalamacchia. In 48 games this season, Shoppach hit .250 with five homers, 17 RBIs and 12 doubles. He's better defensively than Salty but Lavarnway was recently voted the top defensive catcher in the International League so I guess they won't lose much there.

UPDATE 8/16: Scrub reliever Pedro Beato was the player to be named later by the Mets. He reported to Pawtucket today. To make room on the 40-man roster for the Red Sox, Scott Atchison was shifted to the 60-day DL.

To fill that roster spot for Boston, reliever Andrew Bailey will be activated before tonight's game. Projected as the closer, you'll remember that Bailey hasn't played one game yet for the Red Sox since being traded last winter from the A's.

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