Pedey Pawtucket-bound
Debut likely early next week
RED SOX NOTEBOOK
TORONTO — The PawSox are about to get a whole lot better.
Dustin Pedroia is ready to begin a rehab assignment and could start playing with Triple-A Pawtucket as soon as Monday or Tuesday, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said yesterday.
Pedroia has been rehabbing in Fort Myers for most of the season while getting at-bats in minor league games and controlled settings.
“He had seven at-bats (yesterday),” Cora said. “The results, it doesn’t matter, but he felt good. It’s about that time to let him start playing under the lights.”
Pedroia underwent cartilage restoration procedure on his left knee in late October and was originally expected to be out until about Memorial Day. Once he starts a rehab assignment, he only has 20 days until the club has to activate him or pull him back and leave him on the disabled list.
There’s no timetable for how long Pedroia will need to rehab before he’s ready to be activated.
“I think the guys who led our team in at-bats in spring training had like 55 or 60,” Cora said. “He’s had plenty of at-bats right now, it’s just a matter of him being able to bounce back and the other stuff that comes with just standing around for an extended period of time. But he seems like he’s bouncing back well.
“For him, now it’s more about him building stamina, more than four innings defensively, doing all the plays moving around. He’s in a good spot. I’m excited he’s going to start playing next week.”
The pain he’s feeling between games is now subsiding and he’s ready to test his knee further, Cora said.
“He’s in a good place,” he said. “I talked to him (Thursday). He feels he’s getting closer with soreness from his spring training is almost gone so that’s a good sign. So we feel comfortable with him starting to play next week.”
Pedroia will fly to Boston today and was hoping to get the green light from doctors tomorrow, but because it’s Mother’s Day that’ll be unlikely, Cora said.
“Not too many people are going to be ready to check him out,” he said. “We’ll do it in the morning (Monday) and then he’ll go to Pawtucket. That’s why we don’t know if it’s Monday or Tuesday.”
JBJ may play today
Jackie Bradley Jr. was on the bench for a third straight game during last night’s 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays in 12 innings, but Cora said it’s likely Bradley will be back in the lineup for today’s contest.
The struggling center fielder is in a 5-for-50 stretch and Cora has been working with him on developing more fluidity with his hands and less stiffness at the plate.
“(Thursday) batting practice was good,” Cora said. “(He took BP yesterday), keep working on it and we’ll see where it goes. Most likely he’ll play (today).”
Mookie Betts had been playing center in place of Bradley at Yankee Stadium, where left field is spacious and Andrew Benintendi and Betts could cover a lot of ground in left-center.
At Rogers Centre, where the outfield is symmetrical in left and right, Cora wanted the focus to be on right-center with lefty Chris Sale on the mound. He also thought Betts’ arm in right had a better chance to make plays against an aggressive baserunning team, so Benintendi got the start in center and Betts stayed in right with J.D. Martinez in left.
Long day’s night
After the long three-game set in New York, the Red Sox bus didn’t leave Yankee Stadium until after 12:30 a.m. yesterday morning. The team didn’t arrive at the hotel here until 4:30 a.m.
It was an exhausting three days.
“But as a baseball fan it was a great three-game series,” Cora said. “If you love baseball and you were watching, it was fun, regardless of the result. Obviously we wanted to win the series, don’t get me wrong, but as a baseball fan that was fun. That was cool. And we know it’s going to be that way whenever we play each other.
“We’ve got to be ready mentally. Honestly, they’ve been playing a lot better. I feel very pleased with the energy. From day one of this road trip, even though we lost that first game in Texas, they’re doing a good job putting good at-bats and staying in the game. Just got to come here, this is a good team, facing good pitching. We’ve got to keep grinding it out regardless of who we play.”
Thornburg in town
Tyler Thornburg joined the team and threw a bullpen session, the first time he’s pitched on back-to-back days since having surgery to treat thoracic outlet syndrome last year. If he recovers well, he’ll pitch on backto-back days for Pawtucket on Monday and Tuesday. It’s one of the final tests before he’s ready to be activated from the disabled list. …
Sandy Leon got the start behind the plate. Christian Vazquez usually catches Sale but Vazquez caught the game Thursday and Cora wanted him to get some rest. …
Betts entered the day leading the majors in homers (13), average (.361), runs (38), slugging (.803), and OPS (1.244). His slugging percentage was more than 100 points higher than Mike Trout, who has the secondhighest mark (.681).
Betts went 0-for-5 with a walk last night.