Danny Santana Injury: Here’s When Red Sox Utility Man Could Return

The Boston Red Sox on Tuesday had some positive injury news when manager Alex Cora revealed Ryan Brasier — who has yet to pitch in 2021 — could be activated before the four-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays finishes Thursday.

But that wasn’t all. Cora also shared an update on utility man Danny Santana, who has been sidelined for more than a month with a groin injury.

Santana will make his last rehab start Tuesday. He will play in the second game of a doubleheader with Double-A Portland, which means that he won’t see time in Triple-A Worcester before returning to the bigs.

That’s not entirely unexpected as Cora said Friday he expected to fast-track Santana’s rehab as the COVID-19 situation within the organization began to unfold. At that point, Kiké Hernández and Christian Arroyo were the only players on the COVID-19 injured list.

But it’s an entirely different situation now as Hirokazu Sawamura on Tuesday marked the organization’s seventh positive test.