Ryan Brasier seemingly has jumped every hurdle there is on the track to getting back to the Boston Red Sox this season.
And based on what Alex Cora had to say Wednesday, the pitcher finally may be making his final push to the finish line in his rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester.
"Brasier is throwing today and tomorrow, back-to-back for the first time," the Red Sox manager said via Zoom ahead of Boston's game in New York against the Yankees.
The right-handed reliever struggled in his second rehab start Friday, lasting 2/3 of an inning while surrendering five runs on as many hits, earning just one strikeout. Quite the contrast from his scoreless frame of work last Tuesday.
Cora doesn't seem worried about it.
"Honestly, what I've seen is a report of the pitches, not actually the results, and the information that we get is according to what he did last year," Cora explained. "His fastball, his slider is good. Probably command a little bit off, but as far as like the stuff, we're very comfortable with it."
They must be.
Cora shared that if everything goes well in back-to-back outings, they'll determine the next move.
Based on they way he left things, it seems like that will be the last hurdle Brasier has to jump through to finally make his season debut. That's after losing his father, rehabbing from hand and calf injuries and taking a line drive to the head during a simulated start.
It's undoubtedly been a challenging few months for Brasier. Hopefully it ends on a higher note -- with him on Boston's active major league roster.
"He is close, he is close," Cora said. "I think this is important, obviously, for him and for us, for him to be able to close back-to-backs. So we'll talk about it on Friday and see what's next with him, but he's getting close to joining the team."
