James Paxton appears to be heading in the right direction in his injury recovery.
The 34-year-old pitcher suffered a hamstring injury in his spring training start last Friday. Paxton had a strong camp and showed positive signs, so this injury setback obviously was the last thing the southpaw wanted.
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora has kept it slow with Paxton, but he told reporters Tuesday the left-handed pitcher has been moving well and will play catch Wednesday.
“Obviously we’re not rushing but if he’s able to get on the mound by the end of the week we’re in a better spot than what we thought a couple days ago,” Cora told reporters, per Mac Cerullo of CNHI Sports Boston.
The comments from the Red Sox manager are encouraging amid multiple injury scares from Justin Turner, Wilyer Abreu, who suffered their injuries this week, and Connor Wong, who sustained his injury last Thursday.
Paxton missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery and was shut down with a Grade 2 lat tear in late August. His status on Boston’s Opening Day roster on March 30 still is up in the air, but the importance for Paxton is to get fully healthy for game action through most of the 2023 Major League Baseball season.
