The Boston Red Sox returned three injured players to the lineup after dealing with a near-empty bench Wednesday night at Fenway Park, but still have reinforcements at various points of recovery.
There were injury updates on four players Thursday, with Trevor Story seemingly the closest to a return.
"After Story's second rehab game with Portland today, he'll come back to Boston tomorrow for an evaluation," The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey tweeted Thursday. "Won't be activated yet."
The evaluation is rather confusing and could be out of due diligence, especially as the Red Sox's postseason odds twindle. Typically if a player does not experience any setbacks, he can be activated almost immediately.
Red Sox center fielder Kiké Hernández had to be reevaluated in July after a setback in a rehab outing, but Story is expected to play tonight for Double-A Portland, seemingly ruling out anything of the sort.
It sounds like both Tanner Houck and Nathan Eovaldi are on their way to a comeback before season's end after they both appear to have avoided long-term injuries.
"(Tanner) Houck continues to play catch on flat ground, (Nathan) Eovaldi played catch yesterday and today and might get off a mount tomorrow," McCaffrey tweeted. "He's progressing well."
The last update is gloomy, as starter James Paxton has been ruled out for the rest of the season. The southpaw reportedly suffered a grade-two lat strain in his lone rehab assignment last Thursday. The Red Sox had high hopes for Paxton but setbacks derailed the 33-year-old veteran for the entire season.
