Red Sox Receive More Unfortunate Injury News In Taxed Bullpen

The Boston Red Sox bullpen was gassed entering June.

In the first three days of the month, things have only gotten worse. The Red Sox have not only continued to get short outings from starters and need to rely heavily on the unit, but one of its members was injured without giving Boston any innings.

Joely Rodríguez was unable to pitch in the Red Sox’s loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday night, getting up to enter the game as one of the only relievers in the pen who hadn’t been used within the three prior days but eventually being sat back down.

“Joely got up, but we had to get him down,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said, per NESN’s postgame coverage. “He’s actually — we’re checking on him now. He’s not feeling right, so we were one inning short. You map it out, but the game is the game. … They’re checking on him, it’s probably his bicep. It’s right around that area. It was when he was warming up.”

Rodríguez has struggled to stay healthy all season, appearing in only five games for the Red Sox and compiling an ERA of 18.00 across four total innings. He started the season on the 15-day injured list as setbacks from an oblique strain forced him to push his Boston debut back all the way to May 17.

The Red Sox hoped he could become a stable left-handed reliever in their bullpen but instead have had to look elsewhere after signing the 31-year-old veteran to a one-year deal with the Red Sox this winter. Boston will now have to make a decision as to whether another IL stint is in the cards. That might not be the worst thing with the way some of the younger bullpen arms are slinging it.