Get with the program
Sox defensive after Thornburg’s injury
BRADENTON, Fla. — Somewhere, the chain of communication was missing a link.
The Red Sox are backtracking on comments made by both manager John Farrell and reliever Tyler Thornburg less than three weeks ago.
Thornburg was acquired to be the set-up man out of the bullpen, but instead will start the year on the disabled list with a shoulder impingement. The diagnosis was revealed yesterday and will require the righthander to rest for at least one week before the Sox evaluate him further.
How did he end up with the impingement?
Thornburg began Grapefruit League play with two long appearances on Feb. 25 and March 1. He allowed nine runs while recording four outs and has been held out of action since.
On March 11, Thornburg told the Herald’s Mike Silverman that the Sox’ program was much different than what he was used to in Milwaukee, where he spent the first seven years of his professional career. The new program had led to some shoulder fatigue.
“I came in, and bullpens and live (batting practice) felt great, and it was one of those things where I’ve had a shoulder program for quite awhile, but I hadn’t done new things,” Thornburg said at the time. “They were saying new muscles were activating, muscles I wasn’t using, so they started to get fired up and with also the increased throwing in the game and increased throwing program, those muscles started getting a little tired after starting to firing for once.”
But Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski went on the defensive yesterday when asked about the ballclub’s throwing program.
Dombrowski wouldn’t discuss Thornburg’s comments, “because that’s not what he’s told me.”
The boss said Thornburg told him, “that he’s just in a position where he’s getting ready for the spring and he’s in a position where he’s not strong enough really at this point.”
Dombrowski called the throwing program “outstanding” and said the Red Sox send it to new players and check in with them to see if it’s going well. Asked if the Sox checked in with Thornburg, Dombrowski said, “I’m not getting into individual conversations, I can’t tell you what he said.”
Dombrowski added, “I’m not getting into that particular. It’s not the throwing program, OK? I wish you would just lay off of that, OK? We talked about that part of it.”
Told that it was the player, not the reporter, who originally suggested it, Dombrowski said, “No, it’s you pushing it.”
Thornburg, acquired in the trade that sent Travis Shaw to the Brewers in December, had said he didn’t know that he was to perform the exercises that were suggested by the Red Sox on a daily basis.
“My arm wasn’t used to the type of exercises and the amount of them,” he said on March 11.
Thornburg wasn’t complaining. Later in the interview he admitted that the new shoulder program could actually be good for his career with a chance to make his shoulder “a lot stronger.”
Since he was scratched Monday from making an appearance, Thornburg hasn’t discussed his new injury.
Farrell was one of the first to mention the throwing program back on March 10, when he said that it was one reason for Thornburg not appearing in any games after the two outings.
“What we encounter with guys coming from other organizations, and whether it’s Rick (Porcello), David (Price), guys that come in, and they go through our shoulder maintenance program, there’s a period of adaptation they go through, and Tyler’s going through that right now,” Farrell said.
Yesterday, though, Farrell went on the attack.
“There’s been a lot written targeting our shoulder program here,” Farrell said before the Red Sox played the Pirates. “I would discount that completely. He came into camp, he was throwing the ball extremely well, makes two appearances. They were two lengthy innings in which inflammation flared up to the point of shutting him down. But in the early work in spring training, he was throwing the ball outstanding. So to suggest that his situation or his symptoms are now the result of our shoulder program, that’s false.”
Farrell doubled down, almost going as far as calling the reports fake news.
“To say it’s the root cause, that’s a little false,” he said. “That’s a lot false. And very shortsighted.”
Dombrowski said the throwing program has been mostly beneficial for new players, but the Red Sox don’t force them to do it. It’s merely presented them as a suggestion.
“The program here has been outstanding,” Dombrowski said. “If you look at the program here, and I’m relatively new here, I think there have been less arm surgeries than any place in baseball. There’s always an adjustment. That’s just part of it. People have different things they emphasize, but I can’t tell you anything is unique. I’m sure we have some little things that are unique about it, but the reality is it’s a regular throwing program. It’s based upon Dr. (Frank) Jobe’s 10 exercises from 30 years ago. So, I can’t speak for what (Thornburg) said, because I wasn’t there, so I’m not going to speak to it. But it’s not our throwing program.”
Joe Kelly is slated to begin the season as the set-up man while Thornburg rests.