On crutches at the All-Star Game, Dustin Pedroia inspired little confidence that he was going to be the guy to help the Red Sox get back on their feet.
The odds seem even more against the 2008 MVP and his team after it dropped the first two series of the second half, losing three of four to the Rangers at Fenway Park and two of three in Oakland. He's feeling the heat.
Asked if he is headed for a rehab assignment once his broken left foot heals sufficiently, Pedroia explained that is a luxury he no longer can afford.
"No time for rehab assignments," he said. "When I'm ready, I play. No time for that now."
With 10 weeks left, it's time for teams that were favored to start showing why they had been expected to roll into the playoffs.
This has been a tough year for that type of team, with only the Yankees and Cardinals following the path of conventional wisdom. The Red Sox, Angels, Twins and Phillies have fallen, and it's questionable whether they can get up, with or without reinforcements at Saturday's trade deadline.
Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro speaks to that.
"If we continue to play the way we've been playing, I don't know if there's a trade that would make us a playoff contender," said Amaro, who has been pursuing the Astros' Roy Oswalt. "I can get Cy Young and Mariano Rivera and it wouldn't matter."
Here's a prognosis on the life expectancy of troubled contenders with odds they can take a playoff race down to the wire:
•Angels, 6-1: Can Alberto Callaspo pitch? For all the talk about the lack of run production since Kendry Morales broke his left leg, the pitching staff is a bigger problem for manager Mike Scioscia. Only the Orioles and Royals have given up more runs among American League teams entering the weekend.
The Rangers have been a better team all season and added Cliff Lee. The wild card is not in play.
•Phillies, 5-1: Injuries have been a huge problem all season, and the lineup hasn't shown any consistency since the late-May stretch in which the Phillies were shut out five times in eight games.
"We come out here about every day and we do the same thing," manager Charlie Manuel said. "We don't hit and we don't score runs. I've been giving everybody in that locker room a chance, I feel like. 'Hey, if you can hit, please do.' What the hell?"
Down 41/2 games at the break, the Phillies lost six of eight against the Cubs and Cardinals to fall seven back entering the weekend. They are one of six teams within five games in the wild National League wild-card race.
•Red Sox, 3-1: Decimated by injuries, the Red Sox are losing sight of the first-place Yankees and are a distant second to the Rays in the wild-card race. The list of players on the DL includes Pedroia, Victor Martinez and Jacoby Ellsbury, yet the bigger problem has been pitching.
GM Theo Epstein is trying to fill leaks, with the bullpen arguably the most critical issue now that Clay Buchholz and Josh Beckett are back in action.
•Twins, 2-1: Justin Morneau continues to suffer from a concussion. Joe Mauer, the reigning MVP, appears to have lost his confidence at the plate (.297, down from .365 a year ago).
The Twins (who are in the Oswalt rumors) did take three of four against the White Sox last weekend but then dropped a series to the Indians. If Morneau and Mauer get going, they have lots of time to recover from a deficit that hasn't been bigger than 41/2 games.
Misleading numbers: Why all the fuss about Roy Oswalt? The guy was 6-11 heading into his scheduled start against the Reds Saturday and 14-17 in 49 starts the last two seasons.
Consider that the Astros have scored 10 runs in his 11 losses this season, seven of which qualified as quality starts, and that the bullpen blew six saves behind him last year.
"If I win those six games, you're not asking me how old I am," Oswalt said.
He will be 33 next month, but this year is third in the NL in quality starts, fifth in WHIP, 11th in ERA, 12th in strikeouts and 18th in innings. Those are No. 1 starter type numbers, even on strong teams. He has 143 career victories since joining the Astros in 2001, and only CC Sabathia (148) and Roy Halladay (145) have more triumphs over that period.
Those close to Oswalt believe he wants to pitch for the Cardinals and Yankees, and will have to be persuaded to waive his no-trade clause to go anywhere else. How nasty would the Cardinals be with a rotation of Adam Wainwright, Chris Carpenter, Oswalt and Jaime Garcia?
The Cardinals have an intriguing trade chip in Shelby Miller, a power pitcher from Texas whom the Cardinals took in the first round of the 2009 draft, two picks ahead of the Astros.
"We were crushed when he didn't fall to us," Astros owner Drayton McLane admitted.
The last word: "Television is a passive experience. We're not absolutely essential to the telecast. … On radio, the fans are engaged with you because they're turning your descriptions into visual images that are strictly their own. At the same time, you can tell a good story." — ESPN's Jon Miller, who will be honored in Sunday's Hall of Fame inductions, on his preference for radio over television.
progers@tribune.com