The Boston Red Sox are another step closer to getting their shortstop back.
Before Tuesday’s 10-1 trouncing over the Los Angeles Angels, Xander Bogaerts had a busy, and successful day of work. The infielder ran and took infield in addition to batting practice, leading manager Alex Cora to refer to his progress as “great.”
Bogaerts has been sidelined since sliding into the visitor’s dugout while chasing down a ball during Boston’s April 8 matchup against the Tampa Bay Rays, forcing him to leave the game and landing him on the 10-day disabled list with a small crack in his left talus bone.
When it was announced he’d be going on the DL, the estimated timeline for return was 10-14 days. While Thursday would mark 10 days, Cora wouldn’t commit to a specific date for Bogaerts to return to the lineup.
“I’m working on my window,” Cora said Tuesday, via MLB.com. “Whenever I feel it makes sense for us that he’s healthy and he can go out there and perform the way we want him to perform, he will be out there. As long as he’s making progress.”
After the Red Sox leave the West Coast following Sunday’s game against the Oakland Athletics, they’ll take on the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday. But because of both the turf at Rogers Centre and the nature of the injury, Cora is exercising caution about guaranteeing Bogaerts’ return for the three-game set in Canada.
“I don’t want to put a place on it, especially that one, because of the turf,” Cora said. “But if he’s ready and capable of doing everything, and I feel comfortable with it, and everybody feels that’s the player we want, yeah. But at the same time, that’s a tough surface.”
Before he went down, Bogaerts was on an offensive tear. The 25-year-old was hitting .368 with a pair of home runs, including a grand slam, with nine RBI and seven runs scored.
