Taylor to begin rehab assignment

Paxton makes encouraging step in Tommy John recovery

BOSTON — Josh Taylor is finally on his way back. The Red Sox left-hander — who was sidelined with a back injury for most of spring training and the start of regular season — will likely begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester on Sunday.

Taylor threw a live bullpen session on Friday and as long as he bounced back well, he would head to Worcester. Red Sox manager Alex Cora estimated that Taylor would need about five or six rehab outings before being activated from the injured list.

“We’ll see,” Cora said. “Let’s have the first one first and then we’ll decide what we do.”

Looking ahead, Taylor’s return timetable aligns close to May 2, when MLB teams need to cut down their expanded 28-man rosters to the traditional 26, and when they’ll only be allowed to carry 13 pitchers. Taylor’s eventual return means the Red Sox would likely have to cut three relievers from their roster.

Cora provided more encouraging news about a Red Sox pitcher on the shelf, as James Paxton, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, threw about a 20-pitch bullpen on Friday. The Red Sox are expecting a midseason return for the veteran starter, who they picked up in free agency.

Cora said that Paxton and Chris Sale, who’s out until June with a stress fracture in his right rib cage, will stay with the Red Sox through their road trip next weekend to Tampa before the two drive down to Fort Myers to continue their rehab work.

“Everybody’s very excited to see where he’s at in his progression,” Cora said of Paxton.

Devers knows

When Jackie Bradley Jr. beat the shift with a bunt down the left-field line in Friday’s home opener, nobody was more excited in the Red Sox dugout than Rafael Devers, Cora said.

Devers, who has been pushing for more bunting practice since spring training, gestured to Cora by pointing to his head to reinforce how smart the play was.

“Yesterday, (Bradley) gets it down, we’re all excited,” Cora said. “I turn around and Raffy’s like (gestures to head). He went like that. I was like, yeah. That’s another step. Him understanding who he is, who Jackie is and everybody, we can take advantage of that. Will (Venable) put it perfectly. People think you’re giving away outs. Yeah, it looks bad when he tries and he’s out, but if you bunt out of 10 times, you get five down so you’re safe five times. That’s five knocks. And they like hits. … It was awesome. It was a good baseball play.”