The San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox are two teams with very little to play for over the final couple of weeks of the season, but nevertheless they’re set to meet at Fenway Park this week.
Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), Pablo Sandoval will not make the trip.
The Giants third baseman, who had a simply miserable few years with the Red Sox, was placed on the injured list last month with elbow inflammation. He ultimately decided to get Tommy John surgery earlier this month.
Pablo Sandoval was evaluated by Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Wednesday in Los Angeles. Dr. ElAttrache recommends that Sandoval undergo UCL reconstructive surgery on his right elbow. Sandoval will have the procedure done the first week of September.#SFGiants
— SFGiants (@SFGiants) August 24, 2019
If Sandoval were to make the trip, it would be his first time back at Fenway since getting cut loose by the Sox. Because of that, Giants manager Bruce Bochy couldn’t help but crack a joke about the timing of the surgery.
Bochy said he has already thought about the reception Mike Yastrzemski will get in Boston. Pablo Sandoval won’t be making the trip. “I think that’s why he had the surgery,” Bochy joked.
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) September 13, 2019
As Bochy notes, Mike Yastrzemski will make his Boston debut. He, of course, is the grandson of Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski, so it won’t take much for him to endear himself to Sox fans.