Steven Wright’s surgically repaired knee may never be the same as it once was, and the Boston Red Sox knuckleballer isn’t afraid to admit it.
Wright underwent a cartilage restoration surgery in 2017, the same procedure teammate Dustin Pedroia had. But because the surgery was one no other baseball players had undergone, there were questions about how rehabbing the repaired knee would go.
The pitcher looked good in 2018 and toted a 2.68 ERA through the regular season, serving as a starter and reliever for Boston. But the team was forced to shut him down in September because his knee flared up. Now with the 2019 scampaign on the horizon, Wright is ready to get back on the mound, but acknowledged he knows his knee may never get back to full strength.
“I think it’s going to be a day-by-day thing,” Wright told the Eagle Tribune’s Chris Mason. “I don’t think I’m ever going to feel 100 percent like I did before I hurt my knee, but trying to get as close to that as we can and staying consistent with it.”