It will be all hands on deck for the Red Sox in the World Series, and it appears Boston will have another hand available for the Fall Classic.
Steven Wright was removed from the Red Sox’s American League Division Series roster after just one game due to a lingering knee injury. As such, the knuckleballer was unable to be on Boston’s AL Championship Series roster, but now that the Sox have moved on to the World Series, Wright is eligible to rejoin the team.
After throwing encouraging bullpen sessions Tuesday and Thursday, Wright apparently feels comfortable enough with the status of his knee to try and help the Red Sox win a championship.
“Yeah, I can pitch,” Wright told WEEI’s Rob Bradford. “I had a good side today. I’ll probably throw another one on Saturday or Sunday, and if I throw Saturday maybe another one on Monday. But I’ll be ready either way. I told them it’s just a matter of if they feel I deserve a spot I’ll do it. If not I’ll just keep working. I feel good. I feel like I’m going in the right direction. It sucks we weren’t able to do this before the playoffs. But it is what it is. The guys have been doing a great job so far so maybe it’s one of those things where it isn’t broke so don’t fix it. We’ll see.”
Wright was replaced on the Red Sox’s playoff rosters by Heath Hembree, who’s only seen action in Boston’s two 2018 postseason losses and the ALDS Game 3 rout of the New York Yankees. Hembree has kept opponents off the scoreboard over 3 2/3 total innings, but Wright’s versatility of the bullpen could be too much for the Red Sox to ignore.
Luckily for manager Alex Cora and Co, the AL champions will have some time to mull over the decision with the World Series kicking off Tuesday night at Fenway Park.
