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Red Sox Notes: Casas, Pivetta, Grissom

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The Red Sox will be without Triston Casas for a while after a rib issue sent him to the injured list. Boston hasn’t revealed a timeline beyond comments from manager Alex Cora that the young slugger is in for an extended absence.

Casas spoke with reporters yesterday, saying that there’s wide variance in the recovery timetable. “(Doctors) said anywhere from three weeks to six weeks to nine weeks,” the first baseman told the Boston beat (link via MLB.com’s Ian Browne). “They don’t know. It’s just depending on how my body is feeling. But for right now, I’m still in pain to breathe.”

While the Sox announced the injury as a rib fracture, Casas clarified that the problem is a tear in the cartilage in his midsection. That may not be particularly consequential in terms of his recovery, since “the way that the doctors kind of explained it to me is that one isn’t better than the other. [Whether the injury] was a muscle or a bone or cartilage, they’re all similarly timetabled schedules.” Despite the uncertainty about the specific timeline, Casas said he’s confident he’ll be able to play “a good amount of the season.”

Bobby Dalbec has taken over at first base. With Dalbec out to an .093/.152/.116 start as his longstanding strikeout issues continue, the Sox could look outside the organization. They’ve reportedly considered bringing back C.J. Cron, who was in camp this spring but opted out of a minor league deal after he didn’t make the Opening Day roster. Jared Walsh returned to free agency after being waived by the Rangers, while Garrett Cooper remains in limbo since being designated for assignment by the Cubs.

The Sox will need to piece things together at first base for some time. They’ve gotten better news on the injury front with a few other players, though. Vaughn Grissom is expected to wrap up a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester this weekend, tweets Alex Speier of the Boston Globe. Their biggest offseason trade pickup has been out all year after straining a hamstring in Spring Training. Grissom could make his Red Sox debut on Tuesday when they open a series against the Giants.

Starter Nick Pivetta isn’t much further behind, as Cora indicated the righty could make a rehab start next week. Pivetta went on the shelf after two starts with the ominous designation of a flexor strain. The team downplayed any long-term concern, however, and it seems he’s on track to return around a month after the injury.

Pivetta was brilliant over his first two appearances, tossing 11 innings of one-run ball with 13 strikeouts and one walk. He’ll be a free agent for the first time at the end of the season, making this a pivotal year for him personally. Depending on his health and the team’s competitive outlook, Pivetta could be one of the top rental starters available around the trade deadline.

Red Sox, Sal Romano Agree To Minor League Deal

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The Red Sox have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Sal Romano, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’ll head to Triple-A Worcester.

Romano, 30, hasn’t pitched in the big leagues since the 2021 season but joins the Red Sox with 275 1/3 frames of MLB experience to his credit. He had a nice debut campaign with the Reds back in 2017, making 16 starts and pitching to a respectable 4.45 ERA in 87 innings that year. The 6’5″, 250-pound righty fanned 19% of his opponents against a somewhat elevated 9.4% walk rate and also kept the ball on the ground at a 50.4% clip. It was hardly a dominant debut, but Romano looked the part of a potential back-end starter whose ground-ball tendencies would be beneficial in one of the game’s most homer-friendly stadiums.

His sophomore campaign in 2018, however, didn’t go as hoped. The big righty soaked up 145 2/3 innings in 25 starts and 14 relief appearances but stumbled to a 5.31 earned run average. His walk rate improved to 8.2%, but that was accompanied by a dip in strikeout rate (16.3%), ground-ball rate (45.5%) and sinker velocity (95.7 mph in 2017, 94.3 mph in 2018). Romano moved to the ’pen in 2019 but struggled even more. He only threw 1 1/3 innings during the shortened 2020 season despite not hitting the injured list, and the Reds cut him loose after 14 appearances in ’21. He had brief stints with the Yankees and Brewers that season but didn’t stick in either setting for all that long.

Since that 2021 season, Romano has pitched sparingly. He didn’t pitch at all in 2022 and made just two appearances in the Venezuelan Winter League in the ’22-’23 offseason. He spent last year with Gastonia Honey Hunters of the independent Atlantic League, pitching to a 4.91 ERA in 84 frames.

Though Romano doesn’t have a great big league track record and hasn’t pitched in affiliated ball in nearly three years, he’ll join up with a Red Sox organization that is severely lacking rotation depth at the moment. Eighty percent of the team’s projected Opening Day rotation is on the injured list, with Lucas Giolito done for the season (internal brace surgery). Garrett Whitlock (oblique strain), Brayan Bello (lat discomfort) and Nick Pivetta (flexor strain) are all on the shelf, as is depth starter Chris Murphy — who required Tommy John surgery earlier this year.

With that slate of injuries, the Sox are going with Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, Cooper Criswell, Chase Anderson and Josh Winckowski in the rotation. Depth options beyond that quintet include Naoyuki Uwasawa, Vladimir Gutierrez and non-roster righty Jason Alexander. Romano may not have much big league success, but he does carry a 3.87 ERA in parts of three Triple-A seasons. He’ll give the Sox some extra depth while they navigate a rough patch for the rotation.

Cora: Red Sox Will Continue To Use Ceddanne Rafaela As Primary Shortstop

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The Red Sox lost Trevor Story to season-ending shoulder surgery less than two weeks into the 2024 campaign, and they’ve cycled through several options there in the interim. However, infielder/outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela has started the past six games at the position, and manager Alex Cora said today that he’ll remain the everyday option at shortstop moving forward (X link via Ian Browne of MLB.com).

The 23-year-old Rafaela, who just signed an eight-year $50MM extension earlier this season, is regarded as one of the game’s top defensive outfielders but also has plenty of experience in the infield. He’s played all three positions left of first base, including 766 career frames at shortstop between the minors and the big leagues. Story, Vaughn Grissom and Romy Gonzalez are all on the injured list for the Sox, who’ve also tried David Hamilton and Pablo Reyes at shortstop. Rafaela will be the preferred choice moving forward.

It’s been a rough start to the season at the plate for Rafaela, a top-100 prospect who’s torn through upper-minors pitching but has yet to find much offensive success in the big leagues. The righty-swinging speedster hit .241/.286/.386 in 89 plate appearances during last year’s MLB debut effort and carries a dismal .171/.213/.293 slash through the exact same number of plate appearances thus far in 2024. Even with those struggles, Cora saw fit to give the touted young prospect a vote of confidence with today’s announcement.

The health of the rest of the roster could always chance the calculus, of course. The Sox currently figure to run with a primary outfield of Tyler O’Neill, Jarren Duran and Wilyer Abreu for the foreseeable future. An injury to any of that trio could push Rafaela back into the outfield, at least on occasion — particularly if and when Grissom and Gonzalez heal up to replenish some infield depth.

It’s perhaps not ideal to have an elite defensive outfielder operating as the everyday shortstop in the long run, but Rafaela is regarded as a plus defensive second baseman as well and has thus far handled shortstop plenty capably. That versatility is part of the reason the Sox valued him enough to put forth that extension offer in the first place. Even if his long-term home is likely in center field, he can help patch things over in the infield when injuries mount as they have thus far in 2024.

Red Sox Place Brayan Bello On Injured List Due To Lat Tightness

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The Red Sox announced that right-hander Brayan Bello has been placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to April 21, with right lat tightness. Right-hander Zack Kelly has been recalled in a corresponding move.

The news is unfortunate for both Bello and the Sox. He cemented himself in the club’s rotation plans last year by tossing 157 innings over 28 starts with a 4.24 earned run average. His 19.8% strikeout rate was subpar but he only walked 6.7% of batters and kept 56.2% of balls in play on the ground.

The Sox clearly have faith in Bello’s future and put their money on it by signing him to a $55MM extension back in March. Since Bello had generally had stronger strikeout numbers in the minors, the club likely hoped that there was still room for him to grow as a pitcher. He showed a bit of progress here in the early going of 2024, striking out 23.6% of batters faced through his first five starts.

Unfortunately, that progress will now be put on hold, as Bello is the latest in a line of Boston players to get hurt. Lucas Giolito required season-ending surgery back in the offseason and pitchers like Nick Pivetta, Garrett Whitlock, Bryan Mata and Chris Murphy have also landed on the injured list.

Now that Bello is joining that group, the Boston rotation is down to Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Cooper Criswell and Josh Winckowski and they will have to figure out who is going to step up. Veteran Chase Anderson is with the club and has been throwing multi-inning stints out of the bullpen, so he would be one option. Naoyuki Uwasawa is on the 40-man roster and currently on optional assignment. The Sox recently acquired Vladimir Gutierrez, though he just made a one-inning bullpen appearance at Triple-A on Sunday, so perhaps they view him more as a reliever.

The club’s starters have a collective 1.80 ERA so far this year, which leads the majors. That’s a big reason why they’ve managed to keep pace in the highly competitive American League East. But the mounting injuries will obviously make it challenging to maintain that kind of performance going forward. The club hasn’t yet provided any estimates for how long they expect Bello to be out of action but more information should be forthcoming either today or in the days to come.

Red Sox Considering C.J. Cron

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The Red Sox lost first baseman Triston Casas for a yet-to-be-determined but significant period of time yesterday, as the 24-year-old slugger was diagnosed with a left rib fracture. Manager Alex Cora said at the time that Bobby Dalbec would get the bulk of playing time at first base in lieu of Casas, but it seems the Sox are also mulling the possibility of going outside the organization. Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports that Boston has had some initial talks about bringing veteran C.J. Cron back to the organization.

Cron, 34, was with the Sox during spring training but was granted his release in late March after he triggered an opt-out clause. The veteran slugger saw action in just six spring games and went 3-for-15 with a pair of walks. He remains unsigned.

Middling as those small-sample spring numbers may be, Cron has a long and generally productive track record at the big league level. He’s a career .260/.320/.471 hitter who’s hit 25 or more home runs in four different seasons, including a 29-homer campaign as recently as the 2022 season with the Rockies. Cron hit .260/.304/.476 and popped 11 homers in 56 games with the Rox last season before being traded to the Angels — his original organization — at the deadline. He slumped to a .200/.259/.260 line in 15 games post-trade, however, and twice hit the injured list due to lower back troubles over the final two months of the season.

Cron has had four IL placements due to back and neck injuries since the 2021 season, and he missed the majority of the shortened 2020 campaign after damaging a ligament in his knee while fielding a grounder — an injury that eventually required surgery. It’s been a tough few years on the health front, but Cron has typically been a productive bat when he’s been on the field. Given the fact that he’s still unsigned after opting out of a minor league deal, one would imagine the cost to sign him would be affordable as well.

There are other options for the Sox to consider if they indeed go outside the organization. Fellow veteran Brandon Belt remains unsigned despite a hefty .254/.369/.490 slash and 19 home runs in 404 plate appearances with the Blue Jays last year. That performance checked in 38% better than league average, by measure of wRC+ (138). The Cubs also just designated veteran Garrett Cooper for assignment despite a rather productive 41 plate appearances to begin his season (.270/.341/.432, 118 wRC+). Cooper has punched out in more than 30% of his plate appearances and benefited from a .391 BABIP, which could be red flags for the Sox and other interested parties, however.

For now, it’ll be Dalbec getting the looks at first base, though it’s hardly a surprise that the Sox aren’t comfortable simply handing him the keys at first base. The former hit 33 home runs in his first 156 big league games from 2020-21 but has since batted just .198/.268/.337 (65 wRC+) in 441 plate appearances — all while punching out at a glaring 37.2% clip. Even more concerning is Dalbec’s start to the 2024 season. The 28-year-old has taken 35 plate appearances and gone 1-for-32 with 18 strikeouts.

Triston Casas Facing Notable Absence Due To Rib Fracture

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Red Sox skipper Álex Cora acknowledged over the weekend that there was concern about a potentially “lengthy absence” for first baseman Triston Casas following a rib injury, and it now seems those fears were warranted. Cora announced to the Red Sox beat that an MRI revealed a left rib fracture for Casas (X link via MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo), adding that the slugger is expected to be sidelined for “a while.” Cora didn’t delve into specifics but noted that Bobby Dalbec will pick up the bulk of playing time at first base in his absence.

The news is obviously rough for the Red Sox, as Casas has emerged as a consistently above-average hitter early in his career. Though he just turned 24 years old in January, he now has 687 major league plate appearances with 35 home runs and a walk rate of 14.7%. His 25.5% strikeout rate is a bit on the high side but the power and the free passes have led to a 252/.362/.482 batting line and 129 wRC+.

The Sox will now have to proceed without that production for some nebulous amount of time. “Time-table? There’s none,” Cora said, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. “This has to heal on its own. We’ve just got to be patient.”

Regardless of the eventual length of his absence, it adds to a growing pile of injuries for the Red Sox. Trevor Story is out for the year due to shoulder surgery. Vaughn Grissom hasn’t yet made his debut with the team due to a groin strain, though he is on a rehab assignment and getting closer to joining the big league club. The rotation is without Lucas Giolito, Garrett Whitlock and Nick Pivetta at the moment. The Sox have managed to go 13-10 so far and stay afloat in a tough A.L. East race, but each injury will make it harder to keep that up as the grind of the season continues.

For now, Dalbec will step in at first base, despite having hit .033/.121/.067 on the year so far. He has generally hit will in Triple-A over the years but struggled whenever brought up to the majors. He has hit .224/.291/.434 in the big leagues, 93 wRC+, while striking out in 36.5% of his plate appearances. Dating back to the start of 2021, he has hit .265/.372/.558 in the minors. His 33.8% strikeout rate down on the farm in that time has still been high but that production leads to a 129 wRC+.

The Sox will be hoping that a run of consistent playing time will help Dalbec get into a groove and have his major league numbers more closely resemble what he’s done in the minors. The Sox could also keep their eyes open for other options. The Cubs just designated first baseman Garrett Cooper for assignment and Boston is a sensible landing spot for him, though it’s one of many. If the Red Sox end up finding someone they like for the first base gig more than Dalbec, he can play other positions and is also still optionable.

Assuming Casas is going to miss at least a couple of months, he’ll be moved to the 60-day injured list whenever the club needs a roster spot. He was already placed on the 10-day IL on the weekend.

D-backs Claim Joe Jacques From Red Sox, Acquire Sergio Alcantara From Pirates

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The Diamondbacks announced a pair of acquisitions Tuesday: left-hander Joe Jacques was claimed off waivers from the Red Sox, while infielder Sergio Alcantara was acquired from the Pirates in exchange for cash. Both players are headed to Triple-A Reno. Jacques is on the 40-man roster, but Alcantara — who’d signed a minor league deal with Pittsburgh — is not. Arizona’s 40-man roster is now at capacity.

Jacques, 29, appeared in just one game for the Red Sox this season, allowing a run in 1 2/3 innings. He yielded three hits but didn’t issue a walk and also picked up a pair of strikeouts. Dating back to last season’s MLB debut, he’s pitched to a 5.08 earned run average in 28 1/3 innings with a 16.8% strikeout rate, 7.6% walk rate and massive 64.8% ground-ball rate.

Although the sidearming lefty’s track record in the big leagues is minimal, Jacques has pitched in parts of four Triple-A seasons and worked to a 3.93 ERA in 128 1/3 innings. Boston originally acquired the former 10th-rounder from the Pirates in the minor league phase of the 2022 Rule 5 Draft. He was designated for assignment Friday when the Sox selected the contract of fellow left-hander Cam Booser from Triple-A Worcester.

Arizona currently has three lefties in the big league bullpen: Joe Mantiply, Kyle Nelson and Logan Allen. Neither Mantiply nor Nelson has pitched especially well in 2024, and while Allen’s lone appearance yielded solid results, the former Guardians, Rockies and Orioles left-hander has a spotty track record in the big leagues, to put it mildly. Jacques will add a depth option who’s had success in Triple-A and who can potentially pile up grounders in Chase Field, which has been quite homer-happy for right-handed hitters in the early stages of the 2024 season. Jacques is in the second of his three option years and thus gives the D-backs some flexibility in the ’pen.

As for Alcantara, he’s no stranger to the Diamondbacks organization. The now-27-year-old infielder spent the bulk of the 2022 season there, appearing in 71 big league games and batting .241/.283/.406 in 186 trips to the plate. He’s a career .209/.281/.343 batter in 502 MLB plate appearances who’s drawn strong defensive grades at shortstop, per both Defensive Runs Saved (4) and Outs Above Average (7). Those strong marks have come in a sample of just 530 plate appearances.

The Diamondbacks recently lost starting shortstop Geraldo Perdomo to a torn meniscus. Top prospect Jordan Lawlar suffered a torn ligament in his thumb late in spring training — an injury that’s expected to shelve him for several months. With that pair of injuries, have been using hot-hitting rookie Blaze Alexander and glove-first veteran Kevin Newman as the primary options at short. Alcantara will give them some depth at the Triple-A level, where he’s a career .268/.386/.397 hitter in 548 trips to the plate.

Alcantara is out of minor league options, so if the Diamondbacks end up selecting him to the 40-man roster, he’ll have to either stick in the majors or else be passed through waivers. Upon clearing, he’d have the right to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Red Sox Place Triston Casas On 10-Day Injured List

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12:42pm: Cora told reporters this afternoon, including Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe, that Casas is headed for an MRI in Boston tomorrow and that there is concern he could be in for a “lengthy” absence. The manager added that the team intends to discuss its options tomorrow. Abraham adds that Casas told reporters this afternoon that he’s in “a lot of pain” due to the injury and feels it when swinging the bat.

April 21, 9:32am: The Red Sox officially placed Casas on the 10-day injured list with a left rib strain this morning, recalling Heineman in the corresponding move. Heineman, 33 in June, has participated in parts of four MLB seasons and struggled with the bat during his limited time in the majors, slashing just .218/.297/.282 in 104 career games.

April 20: Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas exited today’s game against the Pirates in the first inning due to what the club has termed left rib discomfort. As noted by Chris Cotillo of MassLive, manager Alex Cora indicated to reporters after the game that he was “concerned” about Casas’s injury and that the first baseman had left the ballpark to undergo further testing. While it’s not entirely clear how serious Casas’s injury is, it appears the club is at least preparing for the possibility that an IL stint will be required as Cotillo also reports that journeyman catcher Tyler Heineman is set to join the club in Pittsburgh tomorrow as the only healthy position player on the club’s 40-man roster who isn’t already on the active roster.

If Casas were to miss an extended period of time, it would be brutal news for the Red Sox. The 24-year-old slugger has gotten off to an excellent start so far this season with a .244/.337/.513 slash line with six home runs in just 89 trips to the plate. The youngster’s strong numbers early in the 2024 season are a continuation of his hot second half last year, when he slashed an incredible .317/.417/.617 in 211 trips to the plate after the All Star break.

It’s the latest in a series of injury woes for Boston, as the club has already lost Trevor Story, Vaughn Grissom, Tyler O’Neill, and Romy Gonzalez to the injured list while Rafael Devers has missed each of the last three games after dealing with discomfort in his left knee earlier this week that eventually required him to be sent for an MRI. If even one of Devers or Casas, the Red Sox would be stretched incredible thin in terms of infield depth, and IL stints for both of the club’s regular corner infielders would leave the club with a patchwork infield involving none of the club’s on-paper starters on the first.

Center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela has taken over at shortstop in recent days following Story’s injury, while Enmanuel Valdez has filled in for Grissom at second base to this point in the season. Bobby Dalbec has filled in for Devers at third base in recent days and has plenty of experience at first that could allow him to replace Casas as needed, leaving the likes of Pablo Reyes and David Hamilton to act as utility infielders off the bench and/or handle the hot corner in Devers’ stead if necessary.

Cotillo also notes that outfielder Rob Refsnyder took reps at first base while rehabbing earlier this season, but the 33-year-old hasn’t appeared on the infield dirt since 2018 and any appearances on the infield would further deplete an outfield mix that has already lost Rafaela to the infield and O’Neill to the injured list. With that being said, depth options such as Dalton Guthrie and Eddy Alvarez are available at the Triple-A level to be called up if necessary, though neither is currently on the 40-man roster and would therefore require a corresponding move to be made in order for Boston to select their respective contracts.

AL East Notes: Grissom, Wells, Fairbanks

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The Red Sox have been without second baseman Vaughn Grissom for all of the 2024 season to this point after the 23-year-old missed Spring Training due to a groin strain. Early expectations put Grissom’s timetable for return in the range of mid- to late-April, though Katie Morrison-O’Day of Masslive noted yesterday that Grissom and the club plan to take his rehab slowly as he looks to build up for the season. Per Morrison-O’Day, Grissom has mostly played DH throughout his rehab assignment to this point but has ramped up his time at second base in recent days, including playing all seven innings of the second game of Worcester’s double-header yesterday.

That Grissom was ready to play a full game at the keystone yesterday is surely an encouraging sign for Red Sox fans, as the big league club has suffered injuries of varying severity to shortstop Trevor Story, outfielder Tyler O’Neill, third baseman Rafael Devers, and first baseman Triston Casas already in the young 2024 campaign. With Story set to miss the rest of the season, O’Neill and Casas both on the injured list, and Devers day-to-day, Boston’s positional mix could certainly use the boost that Grissom could provide. Acquired from the Braves in exchange for Chris Sale this past winter, the youngster has hit a solid .287/.339/.407 in sporadic playing time at the big league level over the past two seasons. That solid slash line at the big league level is supplemented by incredible numbers at Triple-A last year, where he posted a .921 OPS in 102 games.

Despite the obvious need at the big league level, however, the Red Sox don’t seem inclined to rush Grissom back to the majors; manager Alex Cora recently indicated that the youngster won’t join the club ahead of their next trip, which begins on Friday. Grissom himself seems to be on board with being cautious ahead of his return, telling Morrison-O’Day that he wants to be “really ready” to return in order to “give [the Red Sox] the best version of myself I can.”

More from around the AL East…

  • Orioles right-hander Tyler Wells hit the injured list last week due to inflammation in his elbow in a move that was described as “precautionary” at the time. Wells provided a little more context on the nature of his injury to reporters (including Jake Rill of MLB.com) yesterday. The righty noted that he struggled to bounce back after his four-inning start against the Pirates on April 12 and isn’t sure when he’ll resume throwing at this point, though he added that he remains “optimistic” that the inflammation won’t be a long-term issue for him. Wells struggled to a 5.87 ERA in his first three starts of the year for Baltimore but posted a solid 3.64 ERA despite a 4.98 FIP in 25 appearances last year. With Wells on the shelf, the Orioles have turned to 34-year-old journeyman Albert Suarez to fill out the rotation alongside Corbin Burnes, Cole Irvin, Grayson Rodriguez, and Dean Kremer.
  • Rays closer Pete Fairbanks has been unavailable the past two days due to illness, as club manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times) yesterday. Per Cash, stomach issues sidelined the right-hander on Friday to the point that he didn’t even make it to the ballpark, and the righty went on to deal with “a little bit of a dead arm” on Saturday. The issues prompted the club to sit Fairbanks down yesterday in hopes he would rebound ahead of this afternoon’s game against the Yankees. Fairbanks, 30, has been a dominant relief arm for Tampa dating back to the 2020 season, with a 2.66 ERA and 2.45 FIP in 138 2/3 innings of work over the past four seasons. Despite that rock-solid pedigree, the right-hander has dealt with some early struggles to this point in the 2024 campaign, allowing eight runs (seven earned) in seven innings when healthy enough to take the mound. Jason Adam and Garrett Cleavinger handled late-inning duties yesterday while Fairbanks was unavailable.

AL East Notes: Pivetta, LeMahieu, Tiedemann

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Nick Pivetta threw a bullpen session today, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora gave reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) a rough timeline of when the righty might return from the right flexor strain that sent Pivetta to the 15-day injured list on April 6.  Cora outlined that Pivetta is around 10 days away from facing live hitters and then will get probably two minor league rehab starts, so if all goes well, Pivetta should be back in Boston’s rotation by around the middle of May.

There was some initial hope that Pivetta could miss just the minimum 15 days when he first went on the IL, yet it isn’t surprising that Pivetta and the Sox are showing extra precaution with a flexor injury.  Cora said that Pivetta “felt good today” after the bullpen, which is a nice first step in the recovery process.  The IL stint interrupted a great start to the season for the righty, who looked flat out dominant in posting an 0.82 ERA over his first two outings and 11 innings of the 2024 campaign.

Some items from around the AL East…

  • DJ LeMahieu was set to begin a minor league rehab assignment yesterday, but an MRI revealed that his right foot fracture hadn’t entirely healed.  The infielder could still begin his assignment as early as Tuesday, though “we’re just being conservative with this thing,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told ESPN News Services and other media.  “He’s doing really well and I know he feels ready to go, but the foot specialist has weighed in.  We want to make sure this thing’s 100 percent.”  LeMahieu suffered the injury about a month ago after fouling a ball off his foot in Spring Training, and is healthy enough to partake in such baseball activities as batting practice and fielding drills, even if he hasn’t gotten the green light for rehab games just yet.
  • Blue Jays pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann underwent an MRI on Thursday to explore discomfort in his throwing elbow, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports (X link).  Tiedemann was already placed on the Triple-A injured list earlier this week, and perhaps ominously, there haven’t yet been any updates over the MRI results.  Shoulder and biceps problems limited Tiedemann to only 44 total minor league innings in 2023, and while a potential Major League debut is seemingly on the horizon for the southpaw this season, the Jays’ first priority is just rebuilding Tiedemann’s arm strength and getting him back in the groove of regular starting assignments.  Tiedemann is ranked as both Toronto’s top prospect and one of the better pitching prospects in all of baseball, though he has been shaky in posting a 5.63 ERA over three starts and eight innings for Triple-A Buffalo this season, with more walks (nine) than innings pitched.
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