NFL football betting players know how important it is to stay injury free throughout the season, and the same holds true in the baseball world. The Boston Red Sox have been decimated by injuries for most of the first half of the season, and it’s about to get worse heading into the All-Star break. Clay Buchholz is a 25-year-old that the Red Sox wouldn’t include in trade talks for Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee at the trade deadline last year, and he’s responded with the first All-Star berth of his career (Halladay and Lee will also be in Los Angeles on July 13th as well). However, Buchholz will, in all likelihood, be skipping the All-Star game due to a hamstring injury that will keep him out until after the break, at least. So far, he is 10-4 with an ERA of 2.45 this season, and this is more of a long-range outlook to keep Buchholz healthy for the rest of the year, because with their injury luck, they’ll probably need it. Buchholz is the third Boston starter to go on the disabled list this season, as Daisuke Matsuzaka has been there, and Josh Beckett has been out for over a month due to a back injury. Right now, Buchholz is the ninth Boston player to go on the disabled list, joining Beckett, Dustin Pedroia, Victor Martinez, Manny Delcarmen, Jason Varitek, Jacoby Ellsbury, Jeremy Hermida and Mike Lowell in the trainer’s room. Imagine betting on NCAA football odds, and looking at Florida and seeing most of their starters battling various injuries. Would you feel safe in laying a sports bet on them? If anything, it’s a massive credit to the Boston organization, coaching staff and players that they’re only 1 ½ games behind the rival New York Yankees in the American League East heading into Monday’s games. If the Red Sox make the playoffs, this may be Terry Francona’s best job to date, and he would deserve to be the favorite for Coach of the Year if you bet on MLB odds. So, how are the Red Sox holding it together? Well, they’re a veteran squad with loads of championship experience, and they’re excellent at plugging in holes. If they can manage to hold on until after the break, they should be getting most of their stars back and they can make a real run at catching the Yankees, while holding off Tampa Bay. Second place in the American League East is likely to get you into the playoffs, and that’s all Boston has to do. Once the postseason starts, it’s a whole new ballgame, and they’ll be worth a wager if you bet on sports in October.