The Red Sox skipped Felix Doubront‘s start in the rotation to give him a breather.
Now, Doubront may receive extended time off. Before Friday’s game against the Yankees, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine hinted at the possibility of placing Doubront on the disabled list.
“He had a little knee situation that we wanted to make sure cleared up,” Valentine told reporters in New York. “He’ll be ready this next week to pitch. If we decide we don’t need him until the end of the week, we might even take that amount of time.”
Valentine also said there’s still a chance that Doubront could rejoin the rotation by the end of the week, depending on the roster situation. The 24-year-old last pitched on August 9 against Cleveland.
In an attempt to stay fresh, Doubront was scheduled to throw three simulated innings — roughly a 45-pitch count — with a longer outing to follow if everything looks good for the southpaw.
While Doubront boasts a 10-6 record, he’s tossed 122 innings — just seven shy of his career high in the pros. He also hasn’t logged at least seven innings in a start since June 13 against Miami.
The Red Sox are attempting to be cautious as Doubront deals with the rookie wall in August, having yielded nine runs over his past two starts. In 22 starts this season, he’s posted a 4.70 ERA with 119 strikeouts.
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