Crawford to rest wrist, opening day unlikely

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) -- Boston Red Sox outfielder Carl Crawford will be shut down this week to let his left wrist heal and it's unlikely he'll be ready to play by opening day.

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said Monday that Crawford would held out for five to seven days because inflammation. Crawford had surgery on his wrist in mid-January.

Coming off a disappointing season, Crawford was an early arrival at spring training this year. He had been throwing and swinging a bat but had to limit his activities last week after he developed soreness in his wrist.

"He was examined and determined that he should curtail his swinging and his throwing," Valentine said.

The Red Sox begin the season April 5 at Detroit.

"The opening day thing is probably not realistic," Valentine said. "It's not the calendar. He'll be ready when he's ready."

"As we talked about before he got here, and we've reiterated that Carl loves to do a lot of stuff and it's probably not in his best interest at this time to overdo it. It's more work than his wrist needs at this time," he said.

Crawford had career lows with a .255 batting average and 18 stolen bases in 2011, the first season of his seven-year, $142 million with Boston.