Middlebrooks Set To Return; Red Sox Designate Ciriaco For Assignment
BOSTON (CBS) - Will Middlebrooks is set to return to the Boston Red Sox, but don't worry about the red-hot Jose Iglesias heading back to the minors.
Middlebrooks will be activated from the disabled list on Monday, but it will be infielder Pedro Ciriaco who is the odd-man out when the move becomes official.
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Middlebrooks, who will bat eighth and play third for Boston as they begin a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays, finished a five-game rehab stint in Pawtucket where he went 5-for-17 with two home runs and six RBI.
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Jose Iglesias will no longer have an everyday position on the team with Middlebrooks returning, but the slick-fielding shortstop -- who filled in for Middlebrooks at third as well -- will stay on as the team's utility infielder.
Manager John Farrell will have to find a way to get Iglesias' bat in the lineup as much as possible, with the 23-year-old batting .446 in the big leagues and currently riding a 13-game hitting streak.
Ciriaco hit just .216 in 28 games for Boston this season while committing seven errors in the field.
