Andrew Bailey has stated all along that staying healthy for the entire season is his top priority. He’s now dealing with biceps soreness, though, and the reliever isn’t happy about the current situation.
Bailey’s injury was revealed following the Red Sox’ 3-1 win over the Blue Jays on Thursday. Joel Hanrahan pitched the ninth inning of that contest to earn the save, which immediately raised eyebrows because Bailey had become Boston’s closer while Hanrahan was sidelined with his own injury.
The Sox were simply being cautious with Bailey on Thursday, and it looked as if the right-hander would be available on an emergency basis on Friday. Since the Red Sox lost to the Rangers 7-0, though, Bailey’s services were not needed. They weren’t needed Saturday either, but even if they were, Bailey would have been unavailable to pitch.
The Red Sox ruled out Bailey before Saturday’s game. The closer threw long toss and a flat ground session, but he once again started to feel discomfort in his biceps.
“I guess it’s not ready yet. I’m very frustrated, got a lot of different notions. Just have to wake up tomorrow and see how it goes,” Bailey told reporters Saturday. “Yesterday it was good, and we wanted to give it another day to make sure and today, it just wasn’t ready. [Manager John Farrell] and I got crossed up going out there, I was coming in and he was going out and we were all on the same thoughts, I’d be ready to go today based on how good yesterday went but it just kind of isn’t ready yet. Just frustrating.”
Since the Red Sox have Hanrahan, they should be able to weather the storm. Bailey is certainly an importance piece of the bullpen puzzle, though, so him getting healthy is extremely important. Bailey hasn’t pitched since April 28, and it’s looking like he might not be available on Sunday either.
“It wasn’t maybe as improved as we hoped,” Farrell told reporters. “We determined he wasn’t going to be available, just to give it another day of rest. At some point we’ll have to get him looked at, most likely, first thing Monday morning.”
For now, Red Sox fans are left holding their collective breath.
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