Thornburg continues rehab with Portland
• Tyler Thornburg won’t be joining the local Triple-A club on its upcoming seven-game road trip through Lehigh Valley and Syracuse. Instead, the rehabbing Red Sox reliever will join up with Double-A Portland. The Sea Dogs are in New Hampshire for games Monday through Wednesday before returning to Hadlock Field on Thursday.
The decision to have Thornburg continue the next leg of his comeback from right shoulder surgery with Portland has more to do with location than the level of pro ball. Since the Sea Dogs aren’t leaving the New England region any time soon, it makes total sense
for Thornburg to be stationed closer to Boston in the event something arises.
“We’ve been taking it slow and smart the whole time … making sure we’re doing everything the right way,” said Thornburg after working out at McCoy Stadium on Sunday morning. “We’re not going to rush anything.”
The good news is that from a health standpoint, Thornburg has aced his first three mound assignments, all with Pawtucket. The soreness that he experienced the day after he’s pitched is more of the general variety, the kind that’s to be expected.
“There were some outings when I was Florida where the bounce-back was slow, but that’s to be expected given how long I’ve been out,” said Thornburg. “Now, I’ve been able to bounce back and do so a little more quickly than the previous time. It’s just one of those good signs that you know you’re on the right track.”
Thornburg has yet to allow an earned run with the PawSox, spanning 2.2 innings. He topped out at 96 miles per hour during Saturday’s outing and once again flashed an impressive curveball. The 29-year-old is scheduled to pitch for Portland on Monday night. If everything checks out fine, he’ll be back on the hill on Thursday.
One of the thresholds that Thornburg would like to reach before returning to Boston is to pitch on back-to-back days. Such a scenario doesn’t appear to be on the dance card this week, so there’s a distinct possibility Thornburg will be back with the PawSox when the team returns to McCoy next Monday.
“The Red Sox are going to want that and I feel like I’m close to being able to pitch on consecutive days, but it’s about not needing a couple days off after that,” he said. “As far as coming in during the middle of an inning, that’s not as big of a deal. Once you’re ready and your arm is loose, it’s not that big of a difference as far as when you enter.”
Thornburg went into last Monday’s outing knowing the seventh inning would be his. The next two times, “it’s just been play it normal so I can once again get used to the bullpen atmosphere,” he said. “We’re trying to treat it as a normal thing.”
Thornburg does anticipate sprinkling in his changeup relatively soon.
“I’m not too worried about that pitch right now. The curve is there and the fastball is getting there, especially location-wise,” said Thornburg. “Probably in the next two or three outings, I’ll be throwing my changeup more.”
• Travel-wise, it’s been an interesting 10-day period for the PawSox. From visiting Buffalo for three games, then home to Roch- ester for three, then back on the road for two at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, and back home for two games against Scranton, it’s been a stretch that has raised plenty of eyebrows within the clubhouse.
The goal is to ensure that every International League club is home the same number of weekends. It appears this premise is coming at the expense of maintaining a fresh clubhouse. The PawSox returned home after their two-game stint in Moosic, Penn. on 4 a.m. Saturday. Understandably, they didn’t take pregame batting practice before Saturday’s game. The home-andhome series where each side hosts a pair becomes even more puzzling when factoring in the decision to have Pawtucket come home when it would have been much better off to head straight to Lehigh Valley, which is roughly an hour away from Scranton.
“I don’t think it’s productive,” said PawSox manager Kevin Boles. “I get it from a business standpoint, but from a player development standpoint I hope it’s something they get rid of. No one is going to feel sorry for a professional baseball player, but you have to take into account the health of the club. There has to be a better way to manage this.”
The PawSox have two more home-and- home series where each team gets two gates – July 2-5 against Rochester and Aug. 31-Sept. 3 against Scranton.
• Thornburg might be off the roster for now, but it’s still rehab central as far as the PawSox are concerned. On Monday, Brock Holt (left hamstring strain) is ticketed to play seven innings at shortstop and play another seven innings Tuesday at a position to be determined.
Also Tuesday, Steven Wright will follow scheduled starting pitcher Marcus Walden to the mound. There’s a clause that says if you’re on the suspended list, which Wright is, you can begin a rehab assignment with six games remaining. Wright has been working out in Fort Myers since the start of his 15-game suspension.
Once the six-game window is up, the Red Sox could elect to re-set Wright’s clock for another rehab stretch, this one encompassing 30 days. Knock on wood, Boston seems to be all set on the pitching front that stashing Wright in Pawtucket buys additional time as far as what to do with a knuckleball pitcher who’s out of minor-league options and as recent as two years ago was an American League AllStar.
• Sam Travis was in the PawSox clubhouse on Saturday to gather some of his gear and head down to Fort Myers for extended spring training. The first base/outfield prospect was placed on the disabled list last week with a left intercostal strain and has his fingers crossed that he can rejoin his Pawtucket teammates at some point while they’re on the road.
• Why mess with a good thing? PawSox hitting coach Rich Gedman was tasked with coaching third base for the third straight day on Sunday. Pawtucket is now 3-0 with the former Red Sox catcher flashing signs from the box. After his team’s 2-0 win over Scranton, Boles confirmed that Gedman will be back out there Monday night in Lehigh Valley.
For Boles, the opportunity to remain in the bench for the entire game has its perks. Since the PawSox are predominantly a right-handed hitting team, it’s tough for Boles to make an honest evaluation when he’s coaching third at McCoy, since he’s looking at them from behind.
“You get a pulse of the dugout. When you’re out there, you don’t get a sense of what the conversations are like. It’s been very professional as far as discussing how they’re going to attack the opposing pitcher,” said Boles. “There’s a lot of things that you don’t see when you’re in the same position the whole time, but it’s fun running the game from the dugout.”