Red Sox May Have To ‘Speed Up The Process’ Of Danny Santana’s Rehab Assignment

Danny Santana has been making progress in his rehab assignment from a groin injury he sustained July 21 against the Toronto Blue Jays, but things may pick up just a bit.

Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora on Friday revealed Kiké Hernández tested positive for COVID-19 and will be out for “an extended period.” Christian Arroyo was deemed a close contact and is also unavailable. It’s unclear when either will return.

Jonathan Araúz and Yairo Muñoz were recalled from Triple-A Worcester and were en route to Cleveland from Buffalo during Cora’s media availability.

Cora was asked if any additional moves could be coming over the weekend.

“I haven’t even (thought) about it,” he said. “We got some moving parts, we got guys on rehab assignments that — are they gonna be with us sooner rather than later? We’re gonna have to speed up the process with Danny, probably. So we’ll manage today as a group and we’ll deal with today. And I think after the game we’re gonna be able to slow everything down and start looking at the future. I think that’s where we’re at.”

It’s certainly not ideal for Santana to be rushed especially from a groin injury. But the good news is that it’s been over a month since the diagnosis, so he should at least be closer to 100 percent than 20 percent.