Although it's late, Jacoby Ellsbury is finding his
stride.
After hitting .265 in the two months following his return from a shoulder injury, Ellsbury has hit at a torrid pace lately. He's batting .400 over the past week of games against the Yankees, Blue Jays and Rays, with 12 hits in 30 at-bats.
"You're basically starting over in spring training again," Ellsbury told reporters in Tampa Bay on Monday. "I had spring training, but when you miss that
much time, it's basically an offseason. Coming back in, pitchers are in midseason,
everyone's in midseason form, you've got to play catch-up. I just tried to
stick with the approach and just know it's going to happen."
Ellsbury launched a two-run
home run in Monday's win, his fourth homer of the season and second in September. Little by little,
he's showing off the skills that made him the American League MVP runner-up last season.
But the rust was to be expected after he missed 79 games
with a subluxed shoulder that he suffered on April 13.
"I know if I get my season's worth of at-bats, my
numbers will be where they need to be," Ellsbury said.
"Unfortunately, I can't get those at-bats back. Here on out the rest of
the year, I'll just try to be as consistent as I can, continue to play hard,
and I know good things are going to happen."
It may be too late to save Boston's season, but it bodes
well for Ellsbury moving forward.
