It’s unknown when (or if) Steven Wright will return from the disabled list this season, but it might be ideal if the knuckleballer makes his way back to the bullpen.
The Boston Red Sox pitcher was placed on the disabled list June 26 with knee inflammation after beginning the season on the DL while he recovered from a cartilage restoration procedure. He’s yet to throw a bullpen session but has participated in long toss and other baseball activities off the mound.
After he was activated from the DL back in May, Wright appeared out of the bullpen before joining the starting rotation due to injuries. Altogether, the knuckleballer has appeared in 10 games (four starts), toting a 2-1 record with a 3.38 ERA. His last outing for Boston was forgettable, as he got shelled for 10 runs over 3 1/3 innings June 22.
While Wright said his knee is getting stronger, the rehab process is a lot of “trial and error.”
“I think it’s a surgery that nobody’s rehabbed before,” Wright told MassLive. “It kind of sucks because a lot of it is trial and error. I came back, and I was throwing the ball well. But I just think the workload was too much, too soon as far as being a starter and trying to go out there (for) seven innings. But it was something that we just didn’t know.”
Wright also noted he’s not trying to rush himself back to game action since the team’s pitching has been pretty solid as of late. Although Wright wouldn’t say if he’d prefer to go back to the bullpen or return as a starter, he wants to be prepared to do both.
“I think the biggest thing is just be ready to be a starter workload-wise, but just be more prepared to be in the bullpen,” Wright said. “Especially once we got (Nathan) Eovaldi. There’s not like there’s too many spots as far as the rotation.”
Regardless if Wright comes back this season, it sounds like he’ll be ready to take on the role where he’s most needed, whenever that time comes.
