Here’s ‘Reasonable Goal’ For Nick Pivetta Return After IL Stint

BOSTON — The Boston Red Sox were dealt two rough injury updates while getting set to host the Baltimore Orioles in the home opener on Tuesday.

With Trevor Story set to miss around six months with shoulder surgery, the rotation will also be without a true innings-eater in Nick Pivetta. The Sox placed the right-hander on the 15-day injured list with a right flexor strain.

Pivetta approached the team after difficulty recovering between his starts on the West Coast. Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told reporters Tuesday that Pivetta did have imaging done with his UCL still intact, leaving the door open for a quicker return at the end of his IL stint.

“I think that’s a reasonable goal,” Breslow said at Fenway Park on Tuesday. “It’s really difficult to put a firm timeline on these things, but that’s reasonable.”

Breslow noted the presence of early-season off-days made Tuesday the most beneficial time for Pivetta to go on the injured list and take care of the staff as a whole.

For now, it’s a wait-and-see approach.

“Where we are now is the presentation of the symptoms and the exam,” Breslow added. “We’re fairly localized to that flexor area. That’s what we’ll treat and feel pretty confident in that diagnosis.”

Pivetta put together a pair of solid starts for the Red Sox to open the season, striking out 13 batters in 11 innings to go along with a 0.82 ERA against the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics.

Boston will eventually need internal options to fill Pivetta’s spot. For now, the off-day on Monday allows Kutter Crawford, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck to move up a day, beginning on Wednesday, and pitch on normal rest.

The Red Sox play at Fenway Park for the first time in 2024 on Tuesday against the Orioles. First pitch is set for 2:10 p.m. ET. You can catch the game on NESN.