Sale nearing rehab assignment
Will pitch one more simulated game Saturday
Chris Sale faces one more hurdle before he can pitch in a game again.
The Red Sox ace actually pitched two simulated innings on Monday in Fort Myers — not Tuesday — and once again came out of it feeling good. The plan now is for Sale to face live hitters for two innings again this Saturday again in Fort Myers before likely heading out on a rehab start next week.
“I texted with him, I just talked to (head trainer) Brad (Pearson), everything went well,” manager Alex Cora said. “This is kind of like, probably the last one before a rehab start. Obviously it all depends on how he feels on Sunday but it feels that way. He’s excited. He felt great today. Just stay the course.”
It’s still uncertain where Sale will make his first rehab start when the time comes, but Worcester seems like a realistic possibility as the WooSox return home starting next Tuesday. It’s unclear how many starts Sale will need before his return to the Red Sox, but the team has been taking a step-by-step approach throughout his recovery and rehab from Tommy John surgery since last March.
Still, since a few setbacks during the winter, Sale has been passing every checkmark in the process. He was impressive during his session last week at Fenway Park, where his fastball was topping out at 95 mph. Sale isn’t getting too far ahead of himself, but he’s eager to get back into games.
“I’ll go to New Zealand to make a start if I have to,” Sale said last week. “It doesn’t matter to me. I’m excited to get this thing going. I want to get back into games. I want to compete.”
Rotation reshuffle
With Nathan Eovaldi hoping to pitch in next Tuesday’s All-Star Game, the Red Sox have reordered their rotation a bit to accommodate it. Eovaldi was scheduled to start the first game after the break next Thursday against the Yankees, but he’s been pushed back to the third game of that series.
The Red Sox are flipflopping Martin Perez and Nick Pivetta’s starts this weekend against the Phil
lies, so Garrett Richards will start Friday, Perez will go Saturday and Pivetta on Sunday. Out of the break, Eduardo Rodriguez will start the first game in New York, followed by Perez, Eovaldi and Pivetta.
Tanner Houck, at some point in the second half, will factor in, too, in a role to be determined.
“He feels good,” Cora said of Houck, who’s made four starts with Worcester since returning from a sore flexor muscle. “Everything went well in the last one, so as you guys know, he’s going to be a part of this at one point. How soon, we don’t know yet, but he’s important for us and he will contribute.”
Sawamura wowed by Ohtani
Red Sox reliever Hirokazu Sawamura has had another chance to reconnect with fellow Japanese pitcher and Angels twoway star Shohei Ohtani this week in Anaheim. The two were seen greeting each other before Monday’s series-opener, and they share a past, albeit a long time ago. Sawamura said he remembers pitching against Ohtani in Japan back in 2013.
Eight years later, Sawamura — like the rest of the baseball world — has been impressed with what Ohtani is doing as both a hitter and pitcher.
“As a player, I’ve been saying that he’s going to be a great player,” Sawamura said through translator Yutaro Yamaguchi. “Obviously he is one of the best players out there right now. What he’s been doing right now, what he has accomplished, that’s something that I cannot do personally, so just hat’s off to him to what he’s
been doing and what he has accomplished.”
A welcomed trade
The Red Sox on Tuesday were winners of a trade that they weren’t even involved in, as Blue Jays first baseman Rowdy Tellez was sent to the Brewers for a pair of pitchers.
The 26-year-old Tellez is only a career .241 hitter, but he’s famously been a Red Sox killer over recent years. In 32 career games against the Red Sox, Tellez has slashed .340/.418/.766 with 12 of his 37 career home runs coming at the hands of the Sox. They certainly won’t miss seeing him.
“He was a pain,” Cora said. “He was really good against us. They’ve still
got a good lineup but that guy, he was really good against us. Really good against us.”
Odds & ends
Marwin Gonzalez, who left Monday’s game with right hamstring tightness, wasn’t in Tuesday’s lineup but Cora doesn’t expect him to be placed on the injured list. The goal is for him to return Friday against the Phillies. …
J.D. Martinez earned some recognition for his defense on Tuesday. He received MLB’s Play of the Week award for the double play he made in the 10th inning of Saturday’s loss to the A’s, when he caught a line drive before making a perfect throw home to save the game.