By Sean McAdam
CSNNE.com Red Sox InsiderFollow @sean_mcadam
Outfielder J.D. Drew will be placed on the disabled list Monday with an impingement in his left shoulder, according to a baseball source.
Drew hasn't been in the lineup since the Red Sox returned home from their six-game road trip to Tampa Bay and Baltimore.
It's unknown how long he'll be out of the lineup.
In the last week or so, Drew has lost playing time as the Sox continue to find playing time for Josh Reddick, who is hitting .358.
The Red Sox will use Drew's DL placement as a way to get Jon Lester back onto the active roster. Lester has been sidelined for the last three weeks with a lat pull, but is scheduled to return to the rotation Monday night in the first game of a four-game series wit5h Kansas City.
The move will leave with the Red Sox with just four outfielders -- Reddick, Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury and Darnell McDonald -- though Yamaico Navarro, an infielder, is capable of playing the outfield.
Drew going on the DL also means that pitcher Kyle Weiland, who made two spot starts in Lester's place, will remain with the Red Sox, at least for the time being.
Boston Red Sox
The prevailing though was that Weiland would return to Pawtucket when Lester returned, but he was up in the seventh inning in the bullpen Sunday.
Weiland was a closer at Notre Dame and is no stranger to pitching in relief, though he has started exclusively since turning pro.
"It's about what I remember (in terms of) getting ready in college -- the mentality and all that," said Weiland said of pitching in relief. "Besides that, it's obviously a different level and I have some things to learn. I'll keep talking to guys around here and figure out what it takes and make the adjustments at that time."
Weiland was unsure how long he was going to stay when he was promoted to Pawtucket.
"Whatever the role I get put in," he said, "I'm excited and I think I can do it pretty well. Once I'm out there, I think it's going to be the same game it's always been. Pitching is pitching and it's just a matter of just getting into that comfort zone."
Sean McAdam can be reached at smcadam@comcastsportsnet.com. Follow Sean on Twitter at http:twitter.comsean_mcadam