This season, Youkilis is not involved with anything All-Star related, despite ranking among the league leaders in RBIs and walks and playing a standout third base.
That might be a good thing for a guy who could use some R&R.
"Fortunately the All-Star break's coming soon. Those four days will help," Youkilis said Tuesday, one day after taking a pitch off his left shoulder, which forced him out of that game and then out of the starting lineup the following night.
The hit-by-pitch was the ninth this season for Youkilis, which ranks him second in the AL. It's also among a seemingly never-ending spate of annoying, but not quite debilitating, injuries that he has been forced to suffer.
There has been soreness in his left hip. Ankle issues have dogged him for weeks and he needed X-rays on his left one after fouling a pitch off of it in Philadelphia last week. Houston Astros catcher Carlos Corporan landed on Youkilis' leg on Sunday in a play at the plate. Scenes in which the Red Sox third baseman has been slow to get up from a slide or a dive have been rather common. He even was one of a handful of players to succumb to a stomach bug which also caused him to miss some time.
And then there was the incident Monday which had Youkilis on all fours at home plate before being walked off the field.
The ball hit him in the muscles near his left shoulder, which are attached to nerves that run up the back of his neck. Because of this, Youkilis was experiencing headaches after departing Monday. They continued to bother him Tuesday, although he expects to return for the series finale with Toronto on Wednesday night.
"I just get this slight little thing, it's not like a serious headache or anything," he said of his newest ailment. "It's more that the muscle just tightens going up through my neck. I'll be good to go. Basically swelling, tightness, it's just a bad area to get hit. It's one of those things where the top of your trap there all connects up into your head. Just got to wait for it to heal."
Red Sox manager Terry Francona is confident his third baseman will be fine, but knows how much Youkilis goes through between the lines.
"Certainly, after games, it looks like he played a football game," Francona said.
The laundry list of ailments has Youkilis eyeing this time next week, when there will be four days of relative nothingness as baseball's best head off to Arizona for the Midsummer Classic.
"Four days of not pounding on your body and moving around and twisting," he said before beaming at the thought of just taking off his cleats. "Not wearing cleats. That's the biggest thing. Cleats, a lot of time, when you get your feet out of cleats for three or four days you tend to find how great it is to just wear shoes all day."
Finally, Youkilis was asked how he would spend his break. Without divulging any specific details, he reinforced his need to stay away from the park and reset after what has been a painful first half.
"I will not be here," he said.
