TODAY: Oviedo will visit Dr. Keith Meister on Tuesday, Cora told Christopher Smith and other reporters. Meister performed Oviedo’s previous Tommy John surgery.
APRIL 3: The Red Sox announced a slate of roster moves Friday morning, including an ominous 15-day IL placement for right-hander Johan Oviedo, who’s been diagnosed with a right elbow strain. Right-hander Tyler Uberstine has been recalled from Triple-A Worcester and will be making his major league debut whenever he first gets into a game. Boston also placed righty Garrett Whitlock on the paternity list, where he can spend a maximum of three days. Right-hander Zack Kelly has been recalled in a corresponding move.
Oviedo, 28, came to Boston in the offseason trade that sent touted outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia to Pittsburgh. He was terrific through four spring starts (11 1/3 innings, two runs on eight hits and six walks with 14 strikeouts) before being tagged for six runs in his final spring tune-up. Oviedo’s official Red Sox debut was ugly, however; the Astros tagged him for four runs on six hits (including a pair of homers) and a walk in 3 2/3 innings of long relief.
More alarming than the bottom-line results was the pronounced decline in Oviedo’s velocity. He’s averaged better than 95 mph on his four-seamer in his big league career and sat 94.4 mph this spring as he built up for the season. His fastball averaged 93 mph flat in that outing against Houston. Oviedo’s velocity on all of his pitches was down across the board. Manager Alex Cora said after the game that the team was confident Oviedo was healthy (link via MassLive’s Christopher Smith).
“We had a conversation with him today and there’s a few things that the pitching department has noticed,” Cora said at the time, seemingly implying that the issue was mechanical rather than physical. Clearly, the team’s thinking has changed. Cora said this morning that Oviedo has undergone both x-rays and an MRI (via Ari Alexander of 7News). The MRI results are being compared to prior MRIs.
The Sox have yet to provide further updates on Oviedo. That the injury is termed a “strain” (indicating it pertains to a muscle or tendon) rather than a “sprain” (pertaining to a ligament) is perhaps a reason for some cautious optimism, though flexor tendon strains frequently require lengthy absences in their own right. Until the team provides further updates, all that’s known is that Oviedo will be shelved for at least the next 12 days. (IL stints can be backdated up to three days, so long as the player has not appeared in a game in that time; Oviedo last pitched on March 30.) It bears mentioning that Oviedo missed the entire 2024 season and much of the 2025 campaign due to Tommy John surgery performed in December of 2023.
Uberstine, 26, was added to the Red Sox’ 40-man roster this past November. He pitched 120 2/3 innings of 3.58 ERA ball between Double-A and Triple-A last season, striking out 26.9% of his opponents against an 8% walk rate. He’s worked in a variety of roles during his climb through the minors, pitching as a starter, as part of a piggyback tandem, in long relief and in short relief.
Back in February, the Boston Globe’s Tim Healey took a look at Uberstine’s remarkable journey to simply end up in pro ball. Baseball America’s Geoff Pontes did the same last August. Uberstine was barely used on his high school team, was turned away from both the club team and actual D-I team at USC as a sophomore, and wound up transferring to Northwestern simply hoping to land a spot on the fringe of the roster, as he’d missed being part of a team during his early time in college. Uberstine posted a 5.90 ERA in his final season at Northwestern and was the Red Sox’ 19th-round pick in 2021, signing for a $97K bonus. Fans of any club will want to check out those pieces from Healey and Pontes for a look at the determination that led to this morning’s promotion for Uberstine.
We are a few days removed from the Red Sox (Cora?) insisting Oviedo was healthy and the velocity decrease was a mechanical issue. Yikes.
This might be a case of cora and the sox taking a man at his word…either way prior to the first start didn’t seem like injury was a concern…Just poor results at the end of st.
Joemo doesn’t think that way. The Red Sox are horrible and so is Cora and that’s just the bottom line answer for everything.
Cora is horrible & shouldn’t be managing anywyas.
I think that unless Cora actually knows he’s healthy (ie he got imaging done and they didn’t see anything) he shouldn’t say that about a player. Pitchers get injured all the time, and even moreso at this point of the year when you have them ramping up.
Oviedo has had injury issues in the past, so it’s just a dumb statement from Cora. Doesn’t look good after all the miscues in the season already.
They won today..let’s be happy about that
I hate this for Johan
steve – Not surprised though, he ramped up too fast in ST throwing VERY hard early on. Towards the end of ST he was getting lit up. Just another casualty of max velo on every pitch.
The pirates blew his arm out his first full year there. Hopefully he gets healthy soon
Lucas Giolito
Is now fat
This is obviously not good. One thing that is a plus is the fact that the Sox have depth in the starting rotation. Last year our 1st 5 starters were , Crochet,Houck, Buehler,Fitts and Newcomb. Most of those guys are elsewhere now. As well as not factor into the teams playoff push. Injuries can and will happen and hopefully the Sox have the proper depth to overcome them.
Need Sonny Gray to go a solid 6 innings today and get this team going in the right direction.
cdc – hi!
Oviedo should not have been constantly throwing 98 MPH his first couple ST games, that’s what did it. You know how I feel about the max velo every pitch organizational philosophy.
Why are you omitting Bello from last year’s list of SP’s?
Sox have depth when Crawford & Sandoval are ready to go. Tolle got lit up so he probably won’t get a callup.
Oil Can will be in the park today, maybe he can give them a couple innings?
So bummed Roger won’t be there.
ROGER is pissed off because he wasn’t named one of the top 10 Red Sox of all time
Gary – Wooah …. when did this Top Ten come out? Who put it together? I hadn’t heard anything about it.
Roger’s blister made the Mets all time top ten.
Roger’s syringe made the Yankees all time top ten.
I’m guessing Roger didn’t make the UT all time top ten because he was their third starter.
It was pretty recent, the last couple of weeks. And I misspoke it wasn’t top 10 Red Sox. It was top 10 Boston athletes. Sorry about that.
I think three patriots three Bruins and four Red Sox. Pedro big Papi, Yaz, Ted Williams if I remember correctly.
So not top 10 Red Sox but top 10 Boston athletes.
sports.yahoo.com/articles/roger-clemens-doubles-do…
Of course I forget Celtics. I’m all over the place this morning.
Gary – Thanks! Yeah even though I grew up a huge Rocket fan, he shouldn’t be upset. We are talking 124 years of Red Sox history, lots of big stars along the way. Plus having to share it with other teams.
No Celtic made the list???? That’s shocking.
My personal version of the list is wrong and didn’t include Celtics. My mistake !!
The man is pathetic mentioning Cy Young, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays. Sorry Roger, but Cy Young and Babe Ruth pitched for the Red Sox, and along with Smokey Joe Wood, were better than you. They won championships you hopeless egomaniac. You won nothing except a ticket to Pitifulville where they have the Hall of Shame for CHEATERS. Maybe you can throw a bat at Big Head Barry when you have a chance.
hayzee – Willie Mays? Before my time, but pretty sure he never played in Boston for any team.
He’s a petulant child. Always has been. Was a tool when I met him at an autograph show.
Damn. If only he’d known you were one day going to be writing about it in a message board
No Tom Brady?
FPG
Missed on Bello.. Thank you. Pointing out that the Sox should have enough ‘ quality ‘ pitching depth to survive an injury or so. We hope.
cdc – hi!
You’re welcome. So what is your prediction for this weekend series?
They are facing two tough guys. King & Vasquez have pitched 11 innings and not given up an earned run, only 3 hits also.
I do expect the Sox to pound Buehler though.
FPG
Sox start to get things right.. take 2 out of 3. The offense gets it going at home…
cdc – hi!
Your prediction is looking really good right now.
Early dominated Tatis, but obviously his command wasn’t good today.
Do they have depth? Or is their starting rotation made up of roughly 2.5 viable starters (given talent declines, innings limits, etc), and the guys in the minors don’t even make it an even 5? Just having a bunch of bodies does not equal depth.
andrew – Yeah, they do have depth. Sandoval and Crawford makes for great depth, once they are healthy and shake the rust off.
Fever- That is assuming Crawford and Sandoval look any good when/if they get back to major league form. Hadn’t they been using Oviedo out of the pen? He should not impact their starting rotation.
We had been saying things didn’t seem to be going as planned in spring training, now we have several poor starts and a potentially significant injury. Not what we need to start the year. At least they had a solid game today.
Uncle – I envision possible long relief and spot starters for both of them, which was Oviedo’s role.
Yeah Cora totally botched ST, but that should have just a one or two week effect on the players. Except for the damage done to Oviedo of course. At least Password isn’t doing much now.
Yes, they have depth.
Adf
That’s what depth is …. Possibilities…
vets that have proven to be adequate at some point, maybe coming back from injury, talented young guys who have shown promise in the minors . Not many teams like the Dodgers that start a 1 or a 2 everyday.
If he winds up needing surgery then they will have given away the Password for virtually nothing.
Red Sox gave up a minor Leaguer whose path to the big leagues was blocked, for a number five starter. Everyone on the face of the planet knows you need plenty of starting pitching to make it through the season.
Probably not the people in North Korea. Everyone that follows baseball knows you need plenty of starting pitching. Correction.
Astros – Agreed, and I would think the guys on the Space Station know you need plenty of pitching.
Especially with the constant push for pitchers to throw max velo every pitch, even early in ST.
Yes, even the people in North Korea. Wow, I didn’t know you were that guy.
Gary – I took it as humor, don’t let it get to you.
Have a Good Friday and Happy Opening Day!
OK, thank you. I appreciate it.
Artemis II was great.
Astros – They really need to have another named James West.
Probably not the people in North Korea or the simpletons building cup snakes in the Wrigley Field bleachers. But everyone else that follows baseball knows you need plenty of starting pitching.
When we were in school, we talked about our “starting rotation” in dating. We also had our bullpen, the relievers. I’m sure the North Koreans have the same mindset. You can never have too much “pitching.”
Gary – When I was in high school all I had was an innings eater.
I was the setup guy or sometimes the long reliever when the starter crashed and burned with the pickup line
Congrats on Whitlock!
Astros – Yes, even though his timing was bad. Every MLB player knows, ST is the right time. That way the kid comes in Nov/Dec.
Beaverment list for our Issac Paredes as well!
Astros – Beaver? Can’t tell if this is another joke or not. LOL
That was a typo.
Let’s fire Cora
As a longtime Cora defender, I’m ready. I’m at the end of my rope with him. They’re never prepared for the start of the regular season, he tinkers with the lineup too much, has guys playing out of position for no reason, mismanaging the pitching staff. This is a mess. I think it’s time for a fresh voice.
Yes, and here’s a list of available candidates who could do a better job:
Jason Varitek is already in the dugout.
Yes, a new voice is definitely needed. It’s become an annual event for the Sox to get off to a terrible start and then spend the rest of the season trying to catch up.
Responsibility for the errors and overall boneheaded play has to fall on someone. The team just doesn’t look prepared or even fired up about anything. I think that starts at the top and we’ve had enough seasons for the needle to point at the source of the malaise with these rosters. AC should be on thin ice and if this continues much longer, Tek should be given the reigns.
And A Rods stupid face is already in Varitek’s mitt which is already in the dugout.
hayzee – You clicked “enter” too soon again.
Who is on your list? I would hope Tek is near the top of the list, and also Dave Ross.
Sox need a major management house cleaning.
Top – They would need to miss the playoffs for that to happen.
If it’s another quick first round exit, nothing will change next year.
The same issues from last year remain – this team is inattentive when it comes to fundamentals. Big hacks in two strike counts, fielding lapses, little league mistakes on the bases (including Kyle Hudson) – it’s Cora. Sox need a new voice in the room.
F KH
Forevermore Katie Holmes?
Close enough lol
Wouldn’t be a Red Sox pitching acquisition if they didn’t have elbow issues, dear lord
What if Varitek is the problem?!?!?!?!?
Huh?
hayzee – Blepharoplasty!
Blasphemy too!
The only problem with Varitek is ARods stupid face wedged in his mitt
Nice to see them honor 86 team… Hurst, Dewey, Jim Ed, Rich Leo… and of course my favorite Steamer… Sad that keep sticking it to Curt in opening montage… Sadder that Brais was also omitted ( only kidding about one of those though)
olm – Curt? I thought I watched all the pregame staff, how did he come up?
I greatly enjoy when they bring back players from past teams, but it annoys the hell out of me that they don’t indicate who is who during introductions. Why rush it?
Either have them come out one at a time, or put their name in a graphic when zooming in on them.
Roger shoulda been there, and it’s sad Hendu couldn’t be.
FPG… they constantly omit him from everything… They show many clips of 2004 and not one is of him?? Come on…2007 I can maybe understand but again 2-3 clips of Beckett and not one of Schilling..Ridiculous…Agree on the players coming out (86) I watched to see how many I could name… Boggs, along with oil can and above mentioned but Steve Crawford, and Marty… I had no clue.. even Schraldi
olm – I totally agree with you there. I did see the montage, I believe it was after the ’86 footage when they mentioned the 4 championships. Wasn’t really paying attention but I agree he’s usually left out. What he did was legendary, without him they don’t win. The word “ungrateful” immediately comes to mind, same thing with Larry …. when they talk about the ownership group purchasing the team and making improvements, it’s as if Larry never existed when in fact he was the most instrumental in saving Fenway and bringing the championships.
Yeah Boggs was easy, Oil Can too (wearing the wool hat I believe). I think the guy near Rice was Armas? Hurst was recognizable, Barrett was not.
I thought Gator was deserving of more than a picture.
29 days!!!!!!!
The ship has righted. The bandwagon is rolling. All is once again right with the world.
Or something.
hayzee – It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
You know I hate predictions, but I’ll make one.
They will lose at least 60 games this year, and win at least 80.
Bookmark it!
FPG
Excellent game yesterday. The sun cost Gray a couple earned runs. He was very effective as was the pen. I said before ,I will say it again. I want Mayer in there everyday,righties and lefties. Still don’t like Story batting 2nd and I’m worried about his production this year. Also I’m thinking about old school batting order , switching Anthony and Duran,or maybe Anthony 2nd .. move Story down and Arbeu up…..
cdc – hi!
So it took 3 months but you finally see the lineup the way I do ;O)
Should be Duran, Contreras, Roman, Story …..
cdchi
________________________________
I absolutely agree with you.
Cora is as stubborn as a ram; he’ll stick to his guns until the very end.
I don’t know how he even came up with the “brilliant” idea of putting Story at second.
Story has already screwed up so many situations with runners on base—it cost the Red Sox a couple of wins.
Story should bat seventh at this stage until he finds his game from last year.
Anthony needs to be dropped lower to take the extra pressure off the 21-year-old.
1.Duran
2.Anthony
3.Contreras
4.Abreu
5.Durbin
6.Mayer
7.Story
8.Narvy
9.Rafaela
I think that at this stage this is the optimal arrangement of players.
However, knowing Cora, he’ll stick to his guns to the bitter end, unfortunately.
Honestly, I want the Red Sox to fail just so Cora can leave.
Bogey
Don’t like Durbin 5th .. I would have Story there for now… followed by Mayer,Narvy then Durbin. Duran should be leading off with Anthony 2nd , Contreras,and Arbeu batting cleanup,he has earned it , Cora said he will swat 30 jacks this year,he is our power hitter.
The Sox failing just to get rid of Cora is not something I can agree with…
FPG,
I did not like that Cora pinch hit Monasterio for Duran. Should have been a double play… Gotta get Story out of the 2- hole,
1- Duran
2- Anthony
3 Contreras
4- Abreu
5- Story
6- Mayer
7- Narvaez
8- Durbin
9- Rafaela
Adjust when Yoshida is in there
I think our ’30 hmr guy should be batting cleanup.
How does Monasterio get credited for an RBI on what should have been a double play… I know you can’t assume but that is antiquated rule,or thought.
Hopefully that was just a blip for the big man Chapman,this team cannot afford to many of these days.
cdchi
17 minutes ago
______________________
Durbin’s starting to hit, so I’d rank him above Story.
Story’s being cut at an alarming rate—he’s a huge liability for the team right now, so he should be seventh.
Look what the Padres did with Bogaerts. He was batting second, now Bogaerts is batting sixth because the Padres manager understands Xander needs to improve his offensive game.
And Cora is just an idiot, he’s putting Story back at second. It’s like Trevor has dirt on Cora.
Honestly, I’m sick of that pompous idiot Cora.
I’m curious what the experts say about Cora ranking Story second.
cdc – hi!
Chapman’s K% is way down so far, the past 3 seasons his K% was between 37%-41% and this year he’s at only 20%.
He had a historic season last year, extremely doubtful he can duplicate it. Koji, Pap, Eck all regressed after historic seasons.
FPG
Koji was magical that year. Basically unhittable. I remember being shocked when he gave up that hmr to Lobaton (I had to look that up) of Tampa in game 3 of the playoffs. Joel Hanrahan was the closer to start the season. ( injury ??)
Koji replaced him and had maybe the greatest closing season in Sox , MLB history. 0.565 whip, unbelievable!!! Never gave you a chance of worrying. Chapman may not give us what we got last year but he still must be very good. His fastball may not be what it once was but is still very effective. Veterans find other ways to get outs.
What about Cora pinch hitting for Duran with Monasterio??? I didn’t like it..
cdc – hi!
Don’t remind me of Hanrahan. I saw him pitch for the Pirates in Pittsburgh, he was electrifying. I was so happy he was traded to the Sox. His career-ending injury was devastating to me. 7 horrible innings from him, that’s all the Sox got from him.
Absolutely Chap will still be one of the best relievers in the game, his control is still incredibly good.
Interesting fact about Duran, he’s hitting better against LHP than RHP.
Interesting fact about Rafaela: He currently ranks as the worst DRS in MLB for all outfielders.
People (and the NESN announcers) keep making excuses for him, but it’s clear he’s been struggling defensively this season. Hopefully he can turn it around, defense is where his value is.
Flavor Flav!!! What a great surprise, he knows what time it is!!!
Fever Pitch Guy
17 minutes ago
Interesting fact about Rafaela: He currently ranks as the worst DRS in MLB for all outfielders.
_____________________________
You’re making a conclusion after just eight games, as if the season is already over.
Seriously?
Your hatred for Rafaela has surfaced once again.
Interesting fact: Duran’s Ops are lower than Rafaela’s Ops – 554 versus 708, but for some reason you don’t mention it.
It’s a disadvantage, really.
It sucks but I everyone pitched like they should he may not get his starting spot with way Early looks.
Great thing about recalling Uberstine was you didn’t have to arrange transport: he drove himself.
Divin – I’m expecting him to get used today, as Whit is due back tomorrow and they seem to like Watson more as he’s 4″ taller so Uber will likely be heading back.
I think Bell has to call the bullpen when they’re bringing in Watson.
How did he do? Just heard he went to my school and is a bit of a miracle story making it to the sho after getting cut from his team
Theo – He did well for two innings, but Cora made the mistake of having him start a 3rd inning.
FPG
Well this run prevention team has the worst record in baseball. 3rd most errors, near the bottom in team era, to go along with a team ba of .226. Throw in some team ,in house , fighting, questionable lineup and management decisions ,ABS confusion and you get a 2-7 record. I have always been a supporter of Cora,but if this doesn’t change soon,it may be time……. It’s still early but this cannot continue much longer.
cdc – hi!
It’s possible they turn things around, they are just feeling the effects of a poorly run ST … just like 2019. And they are not that far behind Toronto and Baltimore. In fact Toronto has probably looked worse, considering they’ve lost 5 of 6 to the Rockies and White Sox!
It’s funny, Tek’s wife today called the Sox a spitshow and said she doesn’t want him to become the manager. That is confirmation there’s a lot of crap happening off the field. If Cora gets bumped up to the front office, who would want to manage under him? Netflix shoulda covered this season, better ratings. LOL
FPG
Why would a comment ,a reply to you be moderated and then taken down?.
cdc – Probably had a certain word in it that’s banned, and I’m not talking about just curse words. For instance Boomer used to cause posts to be flagged.
My post to which you were replying is still there?
At this point convo in re the bad news carmine liable to get you banned or sent to the corner for a timeout
Dumpster – Did they announce anywhere here Bauer is back in the USA, pitching for the Long Island Ducks?
If you don’t see this post, let me know.
I didn’t like the Garcia-for-Oviedo swap at the time and even less so now. The Red Sox could have used Garcia as their RH outfielder to platoon with all their lefty hitting ones. Just a dumb trade. And now it looks even worse.
If the Password can cut down on his strikeouts, he might be a good MLB player some day. I don’t think he is there yet.
HBan22
12 hours ago
You can’t carry six outfielders on your roster.
Anthony, Duran, Abreu, Rafaela, Yoshida.
Garcia would be sixth.
Anthony doesn’t have right-handed/left-handed splits, Abreu has carte blanche against lefties until 2026, Duran might return to form in 2023-24 and needs playing time, so there’s no room for Garcia.
Oviedo has a .140 OPS in AAA right now. You don’t promote guys because they have a cool nickname.
Joe: Agreed. I didn’t realize the Password had got off to such a rough start in AAA.
Whoops, meant to say Garcia.
Please fire Cora‼️ He has no idea how, where, and when to use what Breslow has provided‼️ And dump the hitting coaches, holes in the swings of 70% of the lineup, basic things, heads off the balls, teying to pull outside pitches, complete lack of instruction going oppo. This batting order is idiotic, and stifles their limited speed…hideous
Wow, this team really stinks.
But, it’s early April.
Worst start since 1945 lol is it time, been 7 yrs of garbage by AC
Guru, if you could say that they will get all their good players back from serving in World War 3, then I would say go ahead and keep Cora.