Boston phenom Ellsbury too good not to be an everyday player

DETROIT -- Jacoby Ellsbury went 0-for-5 here Monday night, showed up Tuesday and wasn't in Boston's lineup.

No benching. No punishment. No orders for extra work.

Jacoby Ellsbury hasn't done much wrong since reaching the bigs, yet he occasionally gets benched. (US Presswire)

It's just, well, that Coco Crisp guy is still around, Ellsbury has been battling a slight groin strain and, as Red Sox manager Terry Francona said, "It doesn't hurt to use your whole team."

Boston's Embarrassment of Riches program continues. You win with depth, and the Red Sox, who whomped Detroit again Tuesday 5-0, are deep. Really deep. Clubs like San Diego and Florida can't find a decent center fielder, and the Red Sox push forward with two.

They've yet to trade Crisp, which makes not enough innings for him and Ellsbury and keeps Francona on his toes finding enough playing time for the two.

In many other places, Ellsbury, 24, would be well on his way toward becoming a star by now. Are you kidding? This kid is as natural as a Whole Foods market.

Red Sox fans developed a crush on him last September and completely fell in love when he batted .438 during the World Series. Red Sox players wish they had his tools. Red Sox legends swoon.

"Ellsbury could be the next Ted Williams," Johnny Pesky, a former teammate of Williams, told me this spring. "He runs better. He throws better. I like his makeup. He wants to do everything properly.

"The thing with him is he works on stuff he needs to work on. You look at him and think he's the perfect player. He runs good, he's got a good bat, he's a great outfielder. But he works."

Take Tuesday. Not in the lineup, Ellsbury took his normal rounds of early hitting. A video junkie, he studied each of his at-bats from the night before (a pop to short, ground ball to third, two whiffs and a fly ball to deep center he absolutely crushed).

"I look at the game film to see what I did right and what didn't go so well," he said. "And you build from there."

When he isn't playing, he spends his time in the dugout intently studying the opposing pitcher -- Tuesday, it was Detroit's Nate Robertson -- because he figures he'll be facing the guy later in the season. He also studies the positioning of the outfielders, whether the defense shifts at all -- however slightly -- with two strikes on the hitter, is the hitter trying to move the runner over and assorted other things.

"Subtle adjustments," he said. "That's what's going to separate the average guy from the great guy."