Brock Holt is close to getting back onto a big-league diamond, but it won’t be Tropicana Field.
The Boston Red Sox outfielder still is feeling some minor symptoms from the concussion he suffered in early May and won’t join the team for its three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays, manager John Farrell announced Monday.
“Just didn’t feel like he’s ready to take that next step,” Farrell said, via MassLive.com’s Jen McCaffrey. “We have to respect that. He’ll get a full number of at-bats (Tuesday) and Wednesday before we get back home.”
The hope is that Holt will rejoin the Red Sox on Friday at Fenway Park for the start of their three-game series against the Los Angeles Angels.
The 28-year-old utility man has done well in his rehab stint with the PawSox, posting a .421 batting average (8-for-19) in six starts with two RBIs and two runs scored. Farrell said Holt has felt a bit disoriented at times but has played through his minor concussion symptoms at the recommendation of Dr. Micky Collins, whom Holt has visited multiple times during his stint on the DL.
“We talked a lot about his form of a concussion and felt like the best way for him to get back to being capable with us is to push forward and stress the intensity, the level of play, because the symptoms aren’t going to go away just by sitting around,” Farrell said.
The Red Sox could use Holt in the lineup as soon as possible, as injuries to Blake Swihart and Chris Young have rendered Boston very thin in left field.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
