Red Sox Rumors

Steven Wright To Undergo Season-Ending Knee Surgery

By Jeff Todd | May 4, 2017 at 2:48pm CDT

The Red Sox have announced that righty Steven Wright will undergo season-ending left knee surgery. The precise surgery is a cartilage restoration procedure. Wright is expected to be ready for the 2018 campaign.

The 32-year-old Wright was a revelation for the Sox last season, breaking out with a 3.33 ERA, 7.3 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 43.7 percent ground-ball rate in 156 2/3 innings. The knuckleballer began wearing a knee brace late in Spring Training, telling reporters at the time that he’d been dealing with on-and-off soreness but considered the brace precautionary. At the time, Wright said that he didn’t believe any singular issue had led to the knee pain. Clearly, however, that discomfort continued to mount, and it’ll now end up costing him roughly an entire year’s worth of innings.

[Related: Updated Boston Red Sox Depth Chart]

With Wright sidelined for the remainder of the season and David Price still yet to make his 2017 debut, Boston’s rotation will consist of Chris Sale, Rick Porcello, Drew Pomeranz, Eduardo Rodriguez and Kyle Kendrick for the time being. Southpaws Brian Johnson and Henry Owens remain on the 40-man roster as depth options in Triple-A, and fellow lefty Roenis Elias will give the Sox another optionable starter once he returns from an intercostal strain.

Wright, at some point, will be shifted to the 60-day disabled list to clear a 40-man roster spot for the Sox, and he’ll accrue an entire year of service time while on the shelf. That’ll push him beyond the three-year mark, thereby making him eligible for arbitration for the first time in his career next offseason. Boston can still control Wright through the 2020 season via the arbitration process.

Steven Wright Considering Surgery That Could End His Season

By charliewilmoth | May 3, 2017 at 3:57pm CDT

Righty knuckleballer Steven Wright is meeting with the Red Sox today to consider potentially season-ending surgery on his injured left knee, Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com writes. Wright has visited a knee specialist, but has not yet reached a decision about his path forward.

The Red Sox placed Wright on the 10-day DL with a knee sprain earlier this week, and the team is set to purchase the contract of Kyle Kendrick tomorrow to fill out its rotation. Wright’s terrific 2016 season was cut short due to bursitis in his shoulder, and as he completed his recovery from that injury in Spring Training, it emerged that he had been wearing a knee brace to deal with soreness in that area.

Wright began the 2017 season in the Red Sox’ rotation, but struggled in five starts spanning 24 innings, posting an 8.25 ERA, 4.9 K/9 and 1.9 BB/9. If Wright were to return to health and effectiveness, it would be a boon to a Red Sox rotation that has already dealt with injuries to David Price and Drew Pomeranz in addition to Wright. Of course, today’s news would seem to indicate it’s unlikely Wright will be able to make a quick recovery.

Red Sox To Purchase Contract Of Kyle Kendrick

By Jeff Todd | May 2, 2017 at 9:13pm CDT

The Red Sox will purchase the contract of righty Kyle Kendrick to start on Thursday, as Tim Britton of the Providence Journal was among those to report on Twitter. It seems the organization will open a 40-man spot by placing an injured player (likely Tyler Thornburg) to the 60-day DL.

Kendrick, 32, hasn’t seen the majors since a woeful stint with the Rockies two seasons ago. But he is the clear veteran option for the organization, which was already missing David Price from its rotation when Steven Wright went down to a knee injury.

It’s not yet clear just how long Wright will be out. But he is said to be seeing a specialist for a second opinion on the knee, as Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com tweets, which could at least hint there’s some potential consideration of a surgical option of some kind.

Though Kendrick hasn’t fared well thus far at Triple-A, with a 6.00 ERA over 27 innings, he does carry a solid-enough mix of 6.7 K/9 against 1.7 BB/9. The less-experienced alternatives — Brian Johnson and Henry Owens — have outperformed Kendrick and already have 40-man spots, but Boston evidently would prefer to see them continue refining their work in the upper minors.

Red Sox Place Steven Wright On 10-Day DL

By Jeff Todd | May 1, 2017 at 9:39pm CDT

The Red Sox have placed righty Steven Wright on the 10-day DL with a knee sprain, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal was among those to report on Twitter. Boston will call up reliever Brandon Workman to take the open roster spot, though it’s not yet known who’ll account for Wright’s slot in the rotation.

It’s not yet clear at all how serious an issue the knee problem is. Teams are certainly utilizing the newly shortened ten-day disabled period to help with roster maintenance, and that’s especially true of starters who can simply be skipped while they are out. But Wright has had some recent knee issues.

Wright has also markedly struggled for most of the year, posting an unsightly 8.25 ERA over 24 frames through five starts. He has managed just 4.9 K/9 to go with 1.9 BB/9 while permitting nine home runs. That’s neither the length nor the quality that the club needs from the knuckler.

Whether there’s a better option on hand, though, isn’t clear. While Kyle Kendrick has struggled, Henry Owens and Brian Johnson have each been rather successful at Triple-A, and both already have 40-man spots. With David Price still a ways away from his anticipated return, Boston will likely need to hope for better from Wright — who, it should be noted, is out of options — or one of the available replacements for a while longer.

Quick Hits: Braun, Sanchez, Benintendi, Rizzo

By Mark Polishuk | April 30, 2017 at 11:18pm CDT

Ryan Braun left after six innings of today’s 4-3 Brewers win over the Braves due to what the star outfielder called “wear and tear” in his right arm, according to MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy and other reporters. “It can get irritated swinging, throwing and then obviously you’re playing through it and it continues at times to gradually get worse, and I think that’s kind of what happens,” Braun said. While he believes he can avoid a 10-day DL stint, Braun did think he would be sidelined for the next couple of games. Though Braun vaguely alluded to more than one issue with his arm, the Brewers officially announced the injury as tightness in his right trapezius. Here’s more from around the baseball world…

Aaron Sanchez is likely headed back to the 10-day DL after suffering a split nail on his right middle finger, and the Blue Jays righty tells MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm and other reporters that his latest finger issue was unforeseen. “We really didn’t know going into today it was going to be an issue,” Sanchez said. “I think, once you get into game mode, game speed, pressure on that nail starts to disperse in certain areas and maybe it wasn’t strong enough because it was cut….It’s still frustrating, but I did everything I was supposed to do and everything I’ve done before to be ready for this start. It was just one of those things where you don’t even think about the nail splitting in a different direction.” Sanchez was originally placed on the 10-day DL with a blister on that same finger, and he underwent a procedure earlier this month to remove part of the nail. Sanchez was just activated from the DL today but his abbreviated return lasted only an inning once his finger began bleeding. Though the Jays managed to win today, Sanchez’s probable continued absence is more bad news for the struggling club, as Toronto ended April with just an 8-17 record and the second-worst winning percentage in baseball.
The Cubs had their eyes on Andrew Benintendi in the 2015 draft, and the Boston Globe’s Alex Speier writes that Chicago “seemed likely” to take Benintendi with the ninth overall pick. “His agent heard from the Cubs that he was the guy they wanted,” Chris Benintendi, Andrew’s father, said. Before the Cubs could make their move, however, the Red Sox snagged Benintendi with the seventh overall pick. Though the Cubs took highly-regarded prospect Ian Happ with their selection, this could be an interesting what-if scenario for Cubs fans if and when Benintendi’s star continues to rise.
On the flip side of the “one that got away” coin, Speier also examines an alternate reality where the Red Sox didn’t trade Anthony Rizzo to the Padres as part of the blockbuster that brought Adrian Gonzalez to Boston in the 2010-11 offseason. At the time, Rizzo was just a promising first base prospect sent along with first-rounders Casey Kelly and Reymond Fuentes in exchange for an established star in Gonzalez. That trade, of course, had enormous long-reaching implications on the recent pasts of the Red Sox, Cubs, Padres, and Dodgers, to name just a few teams that would’ve been impacted had that trade not been completed. (For instance, if the Red Sox had re-signed Adrian Beltre that winter and moved Kevin Youkilis to first base rather than acquire Gonzalez, then obviously the last six years of Rangers baseball is greatly different.)

AL Notes: Trout, Fowler, Jays, Red Sox, A’s

By Connor Byrne | April 30, 2017 at 9:07am CDT

As the best player in baseball, and as a 25-year-old who’s signed through 2020 at a more-than-fair price, Angels center fielder Mike Trout is untradeable, opines Mark Feinsand of MLB.com. Unsurprisingly, Halos general manager Billy Eppler won’t even entertain dealing the two-time American League MVP, according to multiple GMs who spoke with Feinsand. “There’s no point to bringing up Trout, because it’s going nowhere,” one GM observed. “Teams will surely try, but it’s like running into a brick wall.” Another GM informed Feinsand that Trout is basically untouchable, but he did touch on what it might take for Eppler to consider an offer. “For a team to inspire Billy Eppler to even return the call, it would have to come to the table stocked with one of the best farm systems and young, upside Major Leaguers and be willing to not put any of those players off limits, because it will take a healthy blend from those two groups,” he said.

Injury Notes: Manaea, Beltre, Red Sox, Span

By Steve Adams | April 27, 2017 at 8:01pm CDT

Athletics lefty Sean Manaea exited yesterday’s game after just two innings due to left shoulder tightness, per Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The departure of yet another of the Athletics’ top starters is troubling enough, but Slusser adds that Manaea’s velocity was topping out at 90 mph on Wednesday — a far cry from the 95 mph at which he usually tops out and from the 92.5 mph he’s averaged thus far in 2017. Slusser has since tweeted that Manaea did pass some initial strength tests with his shoulder today and hopes to try throwing tomorrow.

Oakland already has Sonny Gray and Kendall Graveman on the disabled list, though they’ll welcome Graveman back to the rotation tonight. If Manaea needs to miss time, I’d imagine that right-handers Cesar Valdez and Paul Blackburn would be options to step into his rotation spot. Each is already on the 40-man roster, and Valdez is presently serving as the team’s long reliever after making a spot start last week.

A few more injury notes from around the game…

While the Rangers hoped at the time of Adrian Beltre’s most recent setback that he’d be able to join the club by the end of April, it’s now questionable whether he’ll even be ready to take the field at some point in May, according to MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan. “It’s at the point where we didn’t necessarily see the progress results we thought we would see,” manager Jeff Banister tells Sullivan. Banister said there’s still no timeline on Beltre, adding that the team is still trying to reduce the swelling and soreness in Beltre’s strained calf. Joey Gallo will continue to man third base in Beltre’s absence.
Red Sox reliever Carson Smith has had a setback in his recovery from 2016 Tommy John surgery, as Jen McCaffrey of MassLive.com writes. Smith was throwing off a mound a couple of weeks ago but has “had to slow down,” manager John Farrell told reporters. Smith is long tossing from 110 feet but is now two weeks removed from his most recent mound session. Boston had been targeting a June return for Smith, but a July return is now more realistic, per McCaffrey. The Red Sox have had rough luck when trading for potential setup arms; in addition to losing Smith for more than a year due to Tommy John surgery just months after trading for him, the team has yet to reap any benefit from its trade to acquire Tyler Thornburg this offseason, as Thornburg has been sidelined all season by a right shoulder impingement. CSNNE.com’s Evan Drellich tweeted recently that Farrell said on MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM that Thornburg essentially needs to progress through Spring Training all over again, which would normally consist of seven to 10 appearances.
The initial MRI on Denard Span’s shoulder revealed no serious injuries to the Giants center fielder (Twitter links via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle and Chris Haft of MLB.com). Span, who has already been placed on the 10-day disabled list, said that his shoulder was in too much pain yesterday to even get through the first attempt at an MRI (via Schulman). Manager Bruce Bochy told reporters earlier today that the expectation is that Span will miss more than the minimum 10 days on the disabled list (Twitter link via Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News).

Red Sox Claim Chase d’Arnaud

By Jeff Todd | April 27, 2017 at 12:52pm CDT

The Red Sox have claimed infielder Chase d’Arnaud off waivers from the Braves, per a club announcement. He had been designated for assignment and, evidently, placed on outright waivers by Atlanta.

To clear 40-man space, Boston bumped righty Carson Smith to the 60-day DL. He is still recovering from Tommy John surgery, and it wouldn’t seem as if the placement says much about any changes to his timeline to return.

The 30-year-old d’Arnaud represents a utility option for the Sox, who are struggling to cover with third baseman Pablo Sandoval on the DL and second bagger Dustin Pedroia also ailing. Over 262 career trips to the plate at the game’s highest level, d’Arnaud owns only a .245/.317/.335 batting line. Though he isn’t much with the bat, the right-handed hitter does have experience playing all over the field.

Red Sox Place Pablo Sandoval On 10-Day DL

By Jeff Todd | April 25, 2017 at 11:07am CDT

1:00pm: Manager John Farrell provided some details in an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM, as Evan Drellich of CSNNE.com recounts. The injury was to the “medial side of the right knee,” said Farrell, who says that significant swelling forced the DL move. It is still not known how long of an absence is to be expected.

11:07am: The Red Sox have placed third baseman Pablo Sandoval on the 10-day DL with a right knee sprain, the club has announced. He’ll be replaced by infielder Josh Rutledge, who has been activated from his own DL stint.

Sandoval, 30, has produced uneven results thus far upon returning from a long layoff. Through 67 plate appearances, he is hitting .213/.269/.377 with three home runs. And there are some questions about his glovework, with four errors on his ledger and poor grades from advanced metrics (in quite a small sample).

Still, there are some reasons for hope with the bat. Sandoval’s .164 isolated slugging mark matches his work from 2012, which would seem to be a positive development. But it remains to be seen whether he can right the ship in the on-base department. Sandoval is suffering from a .217 BABIP despite making plenty of hard contact, though his strikeout rate is up to 19.4% on a 14.6% swinging-strike rate — well above his career figures in both areas.

While Boston will be glad to get Rutledge back, the hope had been to see both players on the roster at the same time. The switch-hitting Sandoval has continued to struggle badly against left-handed pitching, making the pair a theoretically useful platoon match. (Rutledge hits from the right side, though he hasn’t carried noticeable splits historically.)

Instead, the Sox will lean on Rutledge — along with left-handed-hitting utilityman Marco Hernandez — to cover third base during Sandoval’s absence. It’s not clear at this point just how long the organization expects to be without the veteran.

Injury Notes: Cespedes, Price, Rangers, Britton, Pederson

By Connor Byrne | April 23, 2017 at 9:53pm CDT

Yoenis Cespedes was out of the Mets’ lineup for the third straight game Sunday, leaving manager Terry Collins to acknowledge that the left fielder could head to the disabled list if his left hamstring issue doesn’t heal by Tuesday (via ESPN.com). “I think we’d need to take a look at that,” Collins said of a potential DL stint for Cespedes, who did tell the skipper he “felt a lot better” Sunday. Cespedes has mashed this season for the slow-starting Mets (.263/.377/.632 with six home runs in 69 plate appearances), but they’re nonetheless decently equipped to handle his short-term absence. Michael Conforto, Jay Bruce, Curtis Granderson and Juan Lagares give the Cespedes-less club a full complement of major league-caliber outfielders. (Update: Cespedes expects to return Tuesday, tweets Matt Ehalt of The Record.)

Red Sox left-hander David Price will throw a 45- to 50-pitch bullpen session Monday as he tries to work back from forearm trouble, per Ben Standing of MLB.com. Price still seems a ways off from making his 2017 debut, but a positive showing Monday would put him in position to face live hitters sometime soon. “Once we get through [Monday’s] work session and kind of begin to map out a little more of a structure on a calendar, I think we’re at that point [of facing batters],” said manager John Farrell. “Anytime you get to the number of pitches thrown that will be tomorrow, you can start to foresee a progression to hitters and ultimately to games, but we don’t have that in place right now.”
The Rangers continue to play it safe with third baseman Adrian Beltre in his recovery from a right calf strain, meaning he probably won’t debut until May, relays Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News. “I think we need to continue to rehab,” said manager Jeff Banister. “The conservative nature is probably in our best interest.” Meanwhile, after upper back spams slowed Tyson Ross’ comeback from thoracic outlet syndrome surgery, the expectation is that the right-hander will resume throwing from a mound by the end of the upcoming week, Banister told George.
Orioles closer Zach Britton will see a hand specialist Monday, after which he could resume throwing, writes Brittany Ghiroli of MLB.com. Britton went on the disabled list last Sunday with a forearm strain – a scary injury for a pitcher – but an MRI came back clean on Friday. The Orioles believe sending the ace reliever to a specialist will help prevent a forearm strain from rearing its head again in the future, Ghiroli notes.
Center fielder Joc Pederson left the Dodgers’ win over the Diamondbacks on Sunday with right groin tightness, and the likelihood is that he’ll miss some games, according to Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. The Dodgers, already dealing with injuries to outfielders Andre Ethier and Franklin Gutierrez, will re-evaluate Pederson on Monday. A 25-plus-home run hitter in each of first two major league seasons, Pederson has gotten off to a sluggish start this year, with a .220/.322/.340 batting line and only one homer in 59 PAs.

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