The Boston Red Sox haven’t had much luck avoiding injuries so far this season, but things might be trending in the right direction.
Prior to the Sox’s series opener with the Seattle Mariners at Fenway Park on Friday, Boston manager Alex Cora gave updates on a slew of injured players.
Lefty starter David Price is on the 10-day injured list with elbow tendinitis. He’s not expected to need a rehab stint, and was scheduled to play catch Friday.
“He was going to play catch today,” Cora said. “We’ll meet later on to see what’s next as far as when he throws a bullpen and where we go after that.”
Then there’s utilityman Brock Holt, who at first was out with a scratched cornea, then got shut down with a shoulder impingement. He could begin a rehab assignment as soon as this weekend.
“Brock is here today (to work out),” Cora said. “Hopefully everything goes fine, he reacts to it well tomorrow morning. And hopefully he can go and start his rehab assignment, Triple-A is on the road I think, so probably Sunday.”
Dustin Pedroia is continuing to work his way through knee issues, and is set to play three games with Double-A Portland beginning Saturday.
“Pedroia, he’s not playing today. He’s traveling today, he’s supposed to play three in a row from tomorrow on,” Cora said. “I texted with him yesterday, he feels fine — he’s actually very happy with (his) swing. I don’t know the numbers or whatever, but he feels like he’s able to catch up with some fastballs. Actually, there’s more (velocity) in Double-A than in Triple-A. Triple-A is more pitch ability, in Double-A there’s guys that throw harder, there’s better stuff. But he feels good.
“Defensively he’s fine, he’s moving well, he’s been running the bases too, went first-to-third the other day and he’s been reacting well to it, no setbacks. But with traveling today, the goal is for him to play three, three in a row.”
Finally, there’s pitcher Brian Johnson, who’s been dealing with inflammation in his throwing elbow. It sounds like a return is near for the southpaw.
“Brian, most likely he’ll throw another bullpen tomorrow,” Cora said. “He’s feeling great, he’s feeling good.”
Cora also indicated that they will try to get Johnson into a simulated game soon so they can determine what the next steps are.
It’s been a slow start to the season for the Red Sox, who have a chance to reach a winning record for the first time this season with a victory Friday night. If they can keep their head above water until reinforcements arrive, they could be in good shape as May continues.
