Cesar Crespo. He has not walked in 59 plate appearances this season. I've always thought that an OBP below .300 is not acceptable for a major league player; Crespo's OBP is .196. ... I wondered how many 3-ball counts Crespo has seen. Checking his splits at ESPN, I counted only 58 PA -- and I found only one 3-ball count. ... I looked at my scorecards to double-check. I counted 60 PA, so while the totals do not match exactly, they give you a pretty good idea of how bad Crespo is. What follows is the number of times he put the ball into play (or struck out) on which counts:

     ESPN   Me

0-0    7     7

0-1    4     4

0-2   10    10

1-1    6     6

1-2    9    10

1-0    6     6

2-0    3     3

3-0    0     0

2-1    5     5

2-2    7     7

3-1    0     1

3-2    1     1

      58    60

I found two 3-ball counts: a full count on April 11 and a 3-1 count on May 16. As we see, Crespo is usually hacking at the first pitch he sees or he's quickly in an 0-2 or 1-2 hole. ... Of course, Crespo isn't in Boston to hit. He plays a variety of positions -- and that is what he has done. But he has been shaky in the field as well, his dropped pop-up in the first inning on Saturday, being the latest example. ... Can't the Red Sox find a utility infielder who can muster a .200 on-base percentage?