Betts ditches rehab, returns Pomeranz still aches
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
BALTIMORE — In somewhat of a surprise move, Mookie Betts was activated from the 10-day disabled list and batting leadoff for the Red Sox in the series opener with the Baltimore Orioles last night.
Betts missed the last two weeks with a left abdomen strain and was expected to do a minor league rehab assignment before returning to the big league club.
Betts spent about a week without taking swings while letting his sore left side heal, then slowly began making progress, enough that he didn’t think he needed the rehab stint.
“I feel like I’ve been ready to play for a couple days,” Betts said. “It gets sore sometimes but I think that’s just meaning the muscles are working. I think through this whole thing, I’ve felt not so bad because it wasn’t like a big tear. It was just a matter of letting it kind of heal and letting it come together. Only real thing I couldn’t do was hit. But every other activity I was fine doing.”
Given the Red Sox just witnessed Dustin Pedroia returning for only three games before going back on the DL, one might think they’d take extra caution with Betts. Pedroia has yet to do any baseball activities since landing on the DL again.
Most players with abdomen strains return within 2-6 weeks. Betts missed two weeks and passed on a rehab assignment.
But manager Alex Cora said the right fielder has been on “the J.D. Martinez program,” a pregame routine vigorous enough to convince the club that he was ready to handle a big league game.
“The last few days have been great,” said Cora. “The pregame routine yesterday, hit off the machine, hit today. We talked about it yesterday, he brought it up, ‘Three at-bats in Salem or (come back to the majors)?’ It’s one of those where he feels comfortable competing at this level the way he is right now. He’s healthy and we agreed to it.
“With the conviction he swung the last two days, what he went through, we’re there. We’re very comfortable with the decision we made.”
It’s good timing for the Red Sox. Betts has 11 homers and 1.004 OPS in 31 games at Camden Yards.
“Just talking with A.C. and (president of baseball operations) Dave Dombrowski and just decided to go ahead and jump right into it,” Betts said. “I think we’ll just kind of see how I feel after the game today and go from there.”
Travis to Pawtucket
To make room for Betts, the Red Sox optioned Sam Travis back to Triple-A Pawtucket.
Travis had a strange and brief stint, making one pinch-hitting appearance with two men on late in a four-run game against the Houston Astros and coming through with a two-run single in his first big league at-bat of the season.
He then made three starts, one in left field, one at designated hitter and one at first base, going 1-for-11.
The Sox opted to go with 13 pitchers for now, giving them extra length with Justin Haley, Brian Johnson and Hector Velazquez capable of multiple innings out of the bullpen. The team may go back to 13 position players next week.
“We will probably get through this week and see where we’re at,” Cora said.
Drew Pomeranz may have suffered a minor setback in his recovery from left biceps tendinitis yesterday.
“He threw yesterday again, but today he has a stiff neck,” Cora said. “Same hotel, same brand (of mattress). I don’t know if he slept on the wrong side or whatever. He was feeling better but he has that.”
Pomeranz hasn’t pitched since May 31.
No Thornburg
The slow return of reliever Tyler Thornburg doesn’t appear to be speeding up.
Thornburg is scheduled to pitch in Pawtucket on Thursday, then not again until Sunday. The righthander had been pitching on back-to-back days before his most recent rehab stint ended on May 25.
The Sox brought him back to Boston to rest before trying to rehab again.
“It was a good time for him to obviously take a step back but also in the training room, understand how to deal with (his shoulder),” Cora said. “He’s a guy that, when healthy, everybody knows what he can do. It’s just a matter of getting there, being able to bounce back, instead of being a guy who pitches one day and can’t pitch for three.
“That doesn’t work here at the big league level. We need guys to be available, be able to pitch, and he’s getting to that point.”