Tyler Thornburg’s Boston Red Sox debut appears to be coming in the near future.
It has been a long road for the right-handed reliever, who has yet to play in a regular season game since being acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers prior to the 2017 season.
But the 30-day window for his second rehab stint this season is almost closed, and it sounds like the Sox are content with his progress both in terms of health and performance.
As such, Boston manager Alex Cora indicated Thornburg could be activated in the upcoming week.
Alex Cora said Tyler Thornburg will "probably" be activated this week. Decision will be made soon. They could give him one more minor league game.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) July 1, 2018
Tyler Thornburg expected to join Red Sox this week, per Alex Cora. Could be activated for WSH series.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) July 1, 2018
Thornburg’s addition to the Sox bullpen certainly would be a big one if he’s back to full strength. While with the Brewers, Thornburg was one of the premier eighth-inning arms in the game, boasting a mid-90’s fastball and a nasty, biting breaking ball.
In his last rehab outing, which came Saturday for Triple-A Pawtucket, Thornburg tossed a 1-2-3 inning on eight pitches, with his fastball in the 93-94 mph neighborhood.
