Eovaldi bullpen session starts comeback
TORONTO — Nathan Eovaldi threw his first bullpen session yesterday since undergoing a procedure to remove foreign objects from his elbow April 23.
It went very well, with Eovaldi throwing all of his secondary pitches for the first time. And, as is his wont whenever the topic of Eovaldi’s relentless approach to his rehab is brought up, manager Alex Cora smiled broadly as he spoke about it.
“He was good, the feedback was great, he threw cutters, fastballs and splits actually, 35 pitches,” Cora said. “This is a guy, as everybody knows, we have to make sure we slow him down, because if it was up to him, the progress would be very fast. His stuff was very good, he’s in a good mood in the training room after that, doing all the exercises, we’ll see how he feels (today) and then decide what’s the next step.”
Eovaldi likely believes he is ready to start.
“I think it’s how physical he is, what kind of athlete he is, he’s not going to half-ass it out there, he’s full blast,” Cora said. “That’s the good thing about it but at the same time we have to be careful. We know where he’s coming from and we need this guy to be healthy any time he steps onto the big-league diamond, and we’ll make sure that happens.”
Eovaldi likely will throw his next bullpen session Friday in Houston.
J.D. out again
J.D. Martinez didn’t play Monday just to have a break during a long stretch without any days off for the team, but he needed another day off last night because of illness.
“He texted me this morning, he wasn’t feeling great, he had a rough night, I don’t know if he was throwing up or whatever,” Cora said. “As soon as he texted me this morning, I was, ‘Well, you’re not playing today,’ so hopefully it’s only a 24-hour thing and he’ll be back tomorrow. Probably he’ll hit during the game, see how he feels, if necessary we’ll use him but it doesn’t make any sense to play him the way he feels right now.” …
Rick Porcello will pitch tonight, on his normal rest, meaning the Red Sox have a vacancy to fill for tomorrow’s series finale. Depending on how last night’s start by Eduardo Rodriguez went, either Hector Velazquez or Ryan Weber will get the start.
a holiday) happen yet.”
Pedroia plugs away
Dustin Pedroia is on another rehab assignment in the minor leagues, and Cora said the veteran has plenty of work left ahead before coming back to the team.
“I see the at-bats, there’s still some stuff that he has to work mechanically,” Cora said. “Actually I talked to him yesterday about it, he got some videos, some feedback today and he looked at it, and he was, ‘OK, I’m doing that,’ so hopefully he can make the adjustments throughout the process, throughout the at-bats and he can get better and better.
“Today is the first day he’s going to play second since Friday, supposed to play seven innings, he DH’d both days. Defensive part is not an issue, just a matter of build-up, and obviously the at-bats, something he wants keep working at, keep building, keep getting better, obviously that’s something we also want him to do.”
Pedroia very much wants to play at a high level upon his return.
“He understands, he understands, he doesn’t want to be just a guy, he wants to produce, which is the most important thing for him, he wants to be the guy, when he plays every day, if he plays when he comes back it’s to produce,” Cora said. “He doesn’t take that lightly and that’s why he’s working hard as far as making adjustments.”