The 30-day window for Tyler Thornburg’s second rehab stint is coming to a close, and if Saturday does prove to be the end, suffice to say it will have finished on a pretty good note.
The righty has yet to pitch for the Boston Red Sox since being acquired prior to the 2017 season, and currently is working his way back from surgery to help fix thoracic outlet syndrome in his right shoulder.
And in Saturday’s outing with Triple-A Pawtucket, the results were great for the 29-year-old.
Tyler Thornburg throws a 1-2-3 7th inning on 8 pitches (4 strikes) with some good defense behind him.
Fastballs were all 93-94 MPH.
— Pawtucket Red Sox (@PawSox) July 1, 2018
Regardless of result Saturday, Thornburg was expected to join the Red Sox on Sunday in New York, even if he is not activated. The Red Sox appear hopeful that he can make a return this season and contribute to the bullpen.
“He feels fine,” Sox manager Alex Cora said Friday, via The Boston Herald. “He’s going (tomorrow) again. Hopefully he can bounce back from this one and go (tomorrow). He’ll be back with us Sunday and then we’ll go from there. The reports were good — velocity, windup, everything. We’re pleased with the way he went about it.”
It has been a bumpy road for Thornburg, even recently. His outing with Double-A Portland on Wednesday was less than ideal, as he allowed one run off a homer with two hits, however, he did go two innings in the outing.
“It’s been that way the whole process,” Cora said of Thornburg’s rehab. “He has a good one, a bad one, a good one, a bad one. The way he feels, this year he feels great. Hopefully (tomorrow) he goes out there and feels right and he bounces back the way we want him to, and himself, too, and we’ll go from there.
What the Red Sox will be waiting for now is how Thornburg feels after Saturday’s outing. Although things have lacked clarity with his situation essentially throughout his Red Sox tenure, the coming days may finally give an idea of if/when he will make his return to the big leagues.
