Nathan Eovaldi didn’t suffer a setback, but the Boston Red Sox are being patient with him.
The starter has been out since late April, when he underwent a procedure to remove loose bodies from his pitching elbow. He’s thrown some bullpens lately and is progressing, but according to Sox manager Alex Cora, the right-hander isn’t totally comfortable with his mechanics at the moment.
“He’s going to throw a bullpen this weekend,” Cora said. “He doesn’t feel great mechanic-wise, so we’ll wait and clean that up and then we’ll decide what we’re going to do after that. We don’t want to rush him if he doesn’t feel right. Obviously this is a guy that’s very important for us, and just to throw him out there when he’s not sound mechanic-wise, it doesn’t make sense for him or for us.”
Also on the injured list is Steve Pearce, who’s dealing with a back injury. Cora indicated that Pearce has been receiving treatment, but isn’t at the point just yet that he’s doing baseball activities.
J.D. Martinez was pulled from Thursday’s win over the Kansas City Royals with back spasms. He’s considered day-to-day and won’t be in the lineup for Boston’s series opener with the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday.
Finally, there’s reliever Tyler Thornburg, who threw a 30-pitch simulated game Friday with Michael Chavis and Sam Travis as the batters. Cora said the righty looked “solid” and “seems close” to going on a rehab assignment.
The Red Sox did get one player back, as they welcomed the return of Mitch Moreland from the IL. He’ll be in the lineup for Boston on Friday.
