The Boston Red Sox have been pleased with the early returns from their new ace Chris Sale.
Sale has been dominant in his first four starts of the 2017 MLB season, posting a 1-1 record with a 0.91 ERA. Now, the Red Sox are patiently waiting for left-hander David Price to join Sale and reigning American League Cy Young winner Rick Porcello.
Price has been on the disabled list with a left elbow injury that has plagued him since the beginning of March. And while the left-hander seemed to be breezing through his rehab earlier this month, the Red Sox opted to slow down his throwing program due to soreness in the joint.
But, the Red Sox lefty played long-toss in Toronto on Thursday and felt good enough to throw a bullpen Friday in Baltimore, according to ESPN’s Scott Lauber. It was the first time that Price threw all of his pitches off the mound, as he had previously stayed away from his breaking ball.
“Threw everything,” Price said before the Red Sox’s 2-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles, per Lauber, “and it felt good.”
Manager John Farrell told reporters that Price’s next bullpen will come either Monday or Tuesday depending on how Price’s elbow responds. Whenever Price’s next bullpen takes place, the Red Sox plan to give Price extra time in order to build up his arm strength.
Farrell reiterated that Price is making progress and he doesn’t believe the injury is long term.
“If you saw the way he threw the baseball today, he’s not going to throw the pitches he did today with the intensity and have something structurally debilitating,” Farrell said before Friday’s game, per ESPN. “That wouldn’t go hand in hand with how aggressively he threw the baseball.
“I wish I could give you a template for these situations, and yet there isn’t one. It’s case by case. You can map things out in generalities, but clearly what has taken place is that he has responded to the uptick in volume and intensity. It has caused us to readjust.”
Here are other notes from Friday’s Red Sox-Orioles game.
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— Dustin Pedroia left Friday’s game in the eighth inning. Orioles third baseman Manny Machado spiked the Red Sox second baseman while sliding into the base to break up a double play. When asked if Machado’s slide was a dirty play, Farrell said on NESN’s “Red Sox Extra Innings Live” he believed it was a late slide.
“It probably could have been a whole lot worse,” Farrell said of Pedroia’s injury. “Extremely late slide.”
— Shortstop Xander Bogaerts didn’t start Friday’s game due to a jammed thumb that he suffered Thursday in Toronto. Bogaerts, however, did play in the field during the eighth inning Friday after Marco Hernandez was pinch hit for.
— Red Sox third base coach Brian Butterfield was ejected before the top of the ninth inning Friday for arguing with an umpire over Machado’s slide.
— Drew Pomeranz now has allowed a home run in 14 of his 16 starts for the Red Sox.
— Red Sox No. 17 prospect Shaun Anderson tossed six scoreless innings in Single-A Greenville to lower his ERA to 0.83 over four starts.
Thumbnail photo via Greg M. Cooper/USA TODAY Sports Images
