Christian Arroyo will make his return to the Boston Red Sox on Monday night when they open up a three-game set with the Los Angeles Angels on the road.
Arroyo was dealing with a bone bruise after a collision with Kiké Hernández in June. His rehab assignment in Worcester was cut short due to rainy weather in the area, but he still was able to get enough work in to feel good enough to fly to Anaheim and join the Red Sox.
Prior to first pitch, the infielder spoke to reporters and opened up a little bit about his injury and rehab process.
“It probably took, where I could walk normally, it was probably a couple days after that,” Arroyo told reporters over Zoom. “It just wasn’t responding the way we wanted it to. It stunk, but, better be safe than sorry.”
Despite only getting four at-bats while with the WooSox, Arroyo still was able to test his leg in the field, which is the most important thing.
“For sure. I think the plan originally was I was gonna DH one of the games, then the next game I was gonna play second,” Arroyo said. “So, the weather was not cooperating whatsoever. It almost got to be kind of a sticky situation because one of the biggest things, obviously, for me was getting it tested out in the field. … So it was kinda weird because the huge storm up there in the northeast was making it a weird situation. But I don’t know how we did it, but we ended up getting in that game on Saturday. I got four at-bats in that game and as long as I felt healthy. I felt great coming out of it. …”
Arroyo, unfortunately, is no stranger to stints on the injured list. But at the end of the day, he knows he only can control so much, and just needs to focus on the plan ahead.
“I play the game hard. I’m always trying to make plays. It’s been freak stuff. It’s more frustrating when it’s things you can control, stuff where if you’re in there and maybe you don’t stretch long enough before the game and you’re not ready for the game, and then all of a sudden you pull something,” Arroyo said. “The freak injuries, yeah they kind of stink because you can’t really avoid them. But, it’s part of baseball. It is what it is. Thankfully they’ve been minor. Thankfully they haven’t been anything crazy. I would say it gets a little frustrating right at first. But then you just gotta kinda reset and get healthy again and get ready to get back out there.”
Red Sox-Angels first pitch is set for 9:38 p.m ET on NESN.
