As of Tuesday, Steven Wright will be eligible to return from his 80-game, performance-enhancing substance suspension to rejoin the Boston Red Sox’s 25-man roster.
But Wright knows it’s going to take time to rebuild the team’s trust in him. And he made that clear in an interview on this week’s “Bradfo Sho” podcast.
“It’s always going to be a work in progress,” he told WEEI.com’s Rob Bradford. “The respect is going to have to be earned back. The trust is going to have to be earned back.”
And he is admittedly nervous about his eventual return.
“I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time. I wouldn’t say I’m scared but there are a lot of nerves because there is a lot more that comes into this than, ‘I’m going back to the big leagues to pitch.’ It’s not that simple,” he said. “It’s not like I’m getting called up. I’m going back into a situation that I ruined for myself and so I have to go and try and make it better.
“The only way I can do that is go up there, do my best, hopefully, be successful and hopefully over time things can get back to as close to normal as they possibly can.”
Wright is 1-0 with a 1.86 ERA in five appearances (one start) since joining Triple-A Pawtucket in early June.
