The Red Sox’s rotation will already be without left-hander David Price to begin the season, and fellow southpaw Drew Pomeranz could join him on the shelf. Pomeranz left his start Sunday after two innings with tightness in his left triceps, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal was among those to report. Pomeranz doesn’t believe it’s a serious injury, but considering he dealt with forearm stiffness late last season and then had a stem cell injection, Boston “must be wary,” opines Scott Lauber of ESPN.com. Injuries have been the story of Pomeranz’s tenure with the Red Sox, who acquired him from the Padres last July for high-end pitching prospect Anderson Espinoza. The Sox then complained that the Padres withheld medical information on Pomeranz, leading Major League Baseball to suspend Friars general manager A.J. Preller for a month. The league also gave Boston a chance to undo the trade, but the team turned down the offer, in part because the trade deadline had already passed.
For the Red Sox, beginning the season without both Price and Pomeranz would force them to slot Kyle Kendrick into their rotation. The 32-year-old last pitched in the majors in 2015, when he started in all 27 of his appearances with the Rockies and posted a 6.32 ERA in 142 1/3 innings. Kendrick joined Boston in January on a minor league deal, which includes opt-outs on June 15 and Aug. 15.
More injury news:
- Tigers right fielder J.D. Martinez went for an MRI on his mid-right foot sprain on Sunday, but the team didn’t release the results. Instead, it sent Martinez to see a foot specialist for a second opinion, according to Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. The Tigers could find out Martinez’s fate as early as Sunday, said manager Brad Ausmus; although Martinez doesn’t have any broken bones, ligament damage is a possibility, notes Fenech. That could be disastrous for both team and player – Martinez is an integral part of Detroit’s lineup, and he’s entering a contract year. Based on potential earning power, MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes ranks Martinez as the sixth-best player who’s scheduled to hit the open market next winter.
- Hoping to make a quicker-than-expected return from a lat strain, Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray will head to Chicago on Monday to visit Dr. Anthony Romeo, a latissimus dorsi expert, reports Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. Gray’s goal is to receive clearance to begin throwing again. The A’s shut down Gray for three weeks on March 9, but if his visit to Chicago yields good news, he could make his season debut in the middle of April instead of at the end, per Slusser.
- Padres lefty Christian Friedrich has been dealing with “overall soreness from the shoulder down through the triceps through the elbow” this spring, manager Andy Green told AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. Consequently, Friedrich could have difficulty making good on his effort to crack the Padres’ rotation. Friedrich led the Padres in starts (23) last year, when he logged a 4.80 ERA, 6.96 K/9, 3.62 BB/9 and a 44.9 percent ground-ball rate over 129 1/3 innings.
- Outfielder Jaff Decker’s spring bid to win a roster spot with the Athletics could be in jeopardy on account of an oblique strain, writes Slusser. Decker has been competing with Alejandro De Aza to serve as Oakland’s fifth outfielder (if the team carries one), but the former’s attempt might go for naught if the injury keeps him out for more than a few days. “It’s unfortunate: He was having a good camp, he was impressing,” manager Bob Melvin said of Decker, who has hit .304/.407/.408 in 23 spring at-bats. “There’s still a spot to be won out there whatever potentially the 25th spot is, the 12th or 13th spot as far as the position players go.”
Man, Decker has had such a bummer of a career after what looked like a promising skill set of doubles power and good on-base skills. Oh well, It’s probably too late for him to do anything now. Just too many injuries.
And I think the fact that Christian Friedrich led the Padres in starts last year is pretty much the saddest thing I’ve read today.
You ever notice that as athletes have become these specimens of incredible physical fitness, they seem to be hurt more?
Maybe they need to do like the old days and drink heavily while puffing on cigars and downing handfuls of black beauties?
Luis Tiant, all dressed up in one of those sports suits that were in style during the mid 70’s.. White of course that would stand out.. really big sunglasses.. Hat to match and ALWAYS puffing on one of the biggest cigars you ever saw..
man can’t tell u how many times I saw him like that, either after games in Winter Haven, or at Red Sox functions he would attend and if someone asked him a truly garbage question? the guy would mumble.. Always figured was telling the person off myself, but u could never quite understand what he was saying when he mumbled. Ask something decent? His English was outstanding.
Yeah, I was lucky enough to see him pitch in Cleveland, back in the day. I miss players like that. Heck, I even miss those sorry Tribe teams from the 60’s and 70’s.
Why on earth did Boston not reverse the Pomeranz trade when they first learned of his injury? Must have been pressure from the Commish office, like with the Marlins/SD trade. Otherwise, with not only the injury but Pomeranz’s history of injuries, Espinoza is just too big a price to pay for the likelihood of continual injuries on a guy of Pomeranz’s talent level. Risk it for a Price, sure. For a Pomeranz? No.
Agreed! I don’t see how ” it was past the deadline” excuse works. The league gave you the opportunity to undo the trade.
It was passed the deadline meaning that they needed a major league arm to fill a slot in their rotation. If they would have undone the trade they would have gotten Espinoza back but that doesn’t help the major league rotation. Pomeranz was still healthy just sore, he pitched well for Boston down the stretch. They wanted to get to the World Series last year and having Pomeranz on the team have them a better chance last year than not having him.
I’m a Sox fan. It’s infuriating. Top prospect Espinosa for an injury prone-scrub. He’s pitching exactly how I thought he would pitch. He’s made for the NL. I feel in a few years this is gonna be looked back on as one of the worst trades ever. Hope I’m wrong
Speculating–Red Sox thought they had made a solid deal. At the time of the trade, Pomeranz was pitching very well. 5.9 H/IP, and 10.1 K/9. Maybe they thought they had another Porcello.
They desperately needed another quality starter and the team had a very legitament shot at a title in Ortiz’s last season. Sending Pomeranz back and requairing a guy that wasn’t going to help them in the majors put them in a bind. Wright was hurt, Bucholz was trying to get his head straight in the pen and E-Rod was just starting to come around. You ain’t going nowhere with a two man rotation. You couldn’t redo that deal and put a quality pitcher on the bump everyday. Or did you want to see Sean O’Sullivan get a long look?
That is an accurate assessment of the Sox situation. DD went for the win. Maybe he did overpay but I can remember many Sox fans clamoring for the Sox to pick up a starter and Pom was the best out there.
Yes with hindsight being 20/20 it was a bad trade. But as an outside observer they were in a no win situation. They were flat out lied to and the deadline had passed. Pomeranz had a resurgence and years of control. If they had time and pitchers on the market the result most likely would have be different.
Got to laugh at Red Sox fans who try to call a player that never missed a start and was the 3rd best starter on their team from July 20th on an injury-prone scrub.
Pomeranz is a good pitcher. He was better than everyone not named Porcello in August and was the 3rd best pitcher in the 2nd half for the Red Sox. He got pulled from a spring training game and may still be ready for opening day.
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Sox might fair better with Pom on the shelf. I’d rather them go with Kendrick at this point
Dumb
They’re better with price on the shelf
do you try to make one salty comment a day or does it just come natural?
Well, I guess the Sox rotation isn’t too left handed now. Pomeranz looks like he’s headed for surgery with all the arm trouble he’s had. Sure Espinoza has a long way to go before we can really evaluate that trade, but even looking at him strictly as a commodity, surely they could have made a trade with him for a sturdier pitcher.
Latest news is he will miss one spring training start and may be ready by opening day.
Well considering they dealt cashner and pomeranz, ross was injured, vargas was injured, perdomo didnt join till late, erlin went down, cosart-clemens-richard didnt join till late its not all that sad.
Itd be sad if he was their best option all season, but considering trades and injuries made it happen its not that bad.
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The Sox went for immediate help last year in exchange for the future to strengthen themselves for a playoff run. Happens all the time and doesn’t upset me but I understand the love for Espinoza. He also has a long way to go to make the majors.
Pomeranz saw no loss of velocity with the Sox and didn’t miss any starts. What I remember is that the Sox asked him to stop throwing his 2 seam FB and he became much less effective with his 4 seam after that. Both of those pitches came out of the same slot with no difference to the hitter except for 4 mph slower 2 seam and a deep bite. Sox have to take some of the heat on that for taking an effective pitch out of his arsenal.
If JD Martinez does go on the DL, the Tigers will be able to keep all of their out of option players. Collins as part of the CF platoon. Moya to cover in RF. Machado as utility IF. Hopefully, JD will be fine, but you don’t get a second opinion if you’re fine.
Yes you do.
I got a second opinion on my shoulder when it gave out in a game, when they said I had a dead rotator cuff, and the second opinion doctor said it was a severe shoulder impingement with a dose of tendinitis and that I would be fine if I attended PT. So I went from “your career is over” to “you’ll be fine” in around a week.
You always get a second opinion on any bodily injury.