Boston starting pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez is expected to start the season on the injured list, but should be back by the time Boston gets through its pitching rotation. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press
Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez is likely to start the season on the injured list, Manager Alex Cora said Tuesday morning.
Rodriguez was scratched from his scheduled Opening Day start after battling arm fatigue in a start against the Rays last Monday.
“There’s a pretty good chance,” Cora said when asked if Rodriguez would be sidelined to start the year. “We’re just running out of time and you’ve got to go through the progression with him. We’re not going to cut a few things just to have him. He might say all the right things, but there’s other stuff he has to do to prove to us that he feels great. It’s not that we don’t trust him but we have to be very careful with him.”
The Red Sox pulled Rodriguez after just two innings last Monday against Tampa Bay after the lefty complained of a “dead arm” and had him finish his outing in the bullpen. He hasn’t faced hitters since, instead throwing bullpen sessions in Fort Myers, Florida, on Saturday and Monday.
Both of those bullpens went well, but the Red Sox were always going to be cautious with Rodriguez, who missed the entire 2020 season after contracting myocarditis following a bout with COVID-19.
“He threw the bullpen (Monday),” Cora said. “He just showed up. Let’s see where we’re at. But like I said, it seems like he’s running out of time to be with us early. I’m not talking about that we’re going to lose him for a while, but we have to be careful with him. We’ll talk about it today and see where we’ll go with that.”
ROSTER MOVES: The Red Sox took some steps toward finalizing their Opening Day roster Tuesday morning, activating outfielder Franchy Cordero from the COVID-19 injured list, designating reliever John Schreiber for assignment, and optioning infielder Michael Chavis and pitcher Colten Brewer to the club’s alternate training site in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Michael Chavis did not make the Opening Day roster for the Red Sox despite a strong spring training. Chris O’Meara/Associated Press
Barring a surprise, that means both infielder Christian Arroyo and reliever Phillips Valdez will make the Opening Day roster. The Chavis move is the most notable. The former first-round pick has played his last 137 games in the majors after being called up in April 2019. He had a great spring (.892 OPS, six homers in 25 games) but was always facing an uphill battle against Arroyo, who is out of options and therefore can’t be freely optioned to the minors.
Despite Chavis looking strong in camp, the Red Sox clearly believe additional time in the minors will be good for his progression as he looks to close a couple swing holes and improve defensively at second base and the corner spots. After a miserable 2020 (.212 average, .636 OPS in 42 games), Chavis fell down the depth chart and will now – along with infielder/outfielder Danny Santana (once healthy) – be one of Boston’s top two positional depth options at the alternate site.
Valdez, one of Boston’s most consistent relievers last year (3.26 ERA in 30 2/3 innings), won the final bullpen spot over Brewer, who has been with the team since 2019. Neither Brewer (9.95 ERA in 6 2/3 innings) nor Valdez (9.35 ERA in 8 1/3 innings) had a good spring training, but the Red Sox needed an extra arm with Ryan Brasier (right pinkie fracture and left calf strain) beginning the year on the IL.
Cordero was a late arrival to spring training after testing positive for COVID-19, and new league rules stipulate that teams can keep players on the COVID-19 IL until they’re back at full strength. Because Cordero was deemed ready to make the Opening Day roster, he needed to be activated by Thursday.
WITH RODRIGUEZ SIDELINED, it appears the Red Sox will turn to rookie righty Tanner Houck for a spot start Saturday afternoon against the Orioles. Houck’s stay in the majors is expected to be a short one, with Boston hoping Rodriguez can rejoin the rotation the second time through.
Other than Rodriguez, the Red Sox are expected to be at full strength in the rotation as the season begins. Garrett Richards, who had to quarantine for a couple of days after being deemed a close contact to Matt Barnes, is expected to be ready by the weekend.
Nathan Eovaldi will start Opening Day, while Nick Pivetta and Martín Pérez will be ready to go for the start of the year.
BRASIER HAD ANOTHER setback as he suffered a left calf strain, Cora said. It occurred as the Red Sox reliever was trying to field a ground ball during a B game on Monday. Brasier was scheduled to have an MRI on Tuesday morning to determine the severity of the injury.
“We’ll know more in the upcoming days,” Cora said. “It doesn’t look too promising. He thought it was a cramp early on but obviously at night he felt worse.”
Brasier was already unlikely to make the Opening Day roster. He had a slow start to camp after having to leave due to personal reasons, and he also suffered a small fracture below the pinkie finger on his throwing hand earlier this month.
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