Last August, James Paxton’s first rehab game ended after facing two hitters; finally back on the mound after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2021, a Grade 2 lat tear shut him down again before he’d even begun to mount a comeback.
On Friday, his first spring training start ended after 1 2/3 innings.
Later that day, he told reporters, including WEEI’s Rob Bradford, that he felt something happen in his second-to-last pitch of the outing.
“Cramped up a little bit, not sure if it’s a strain yet,” Paxton said, adding that he’s never had problems with his right hamstring before.
Indeed, his promising scoreless appearance was cut short by what’s been diagnosed as a Grade 1 right hamstring strain. It’s unlikely he’ll be ready for the Opening Day roster.
While Alex Cora told MLB’s Ian Browne, “It’s actually a best scenario, it doesn’t look that bad,” it’s still disappointing for Paxton as well as an early blow to the team.
Connor Wong also suffered a Grade 1 hamstring in the Red Sox game against the Phillies on Thursday.
One of the prospects acquired in the Mookie Betts trade, Wong was having a solid spring. Three preseason games is a miniscule sample size, but the catcher went 2-for-5 with an RBI and no strikeouts.
David Ortiz, who arrived at spring training on Friday, told Browne, “You know what, I like the underdog type of thing. Not many people pay attention to you, they focus on the big dog, and that’s when the underdog shows up and they do what we have done in the past.
“We’ll see. I hope everybody stays healthy. That’s been an issue the past couple of years.”
With Opening Day less than a month away, it’s becoming an issue this year, too.
Nick Pivetta couldn’t make it through two innings in his first start, either, though not because of in-game injury.
After allowing two runs in the first on Saturday afternoon, Pivetta gave up three straight singles to load the bases in the second. A pitch clock violation resulted in a balk call, which forced in a run.
The 30-year-old then issued a walk to reload the diamond, at which point, Cora pulled him and sent Jake Faria to clean up the mess, which he did.
Struggle to limit base-runners and runs aside, it was mostly an issue of pitch count. NESN clocked him at 44 pitches, the press box had 43.
Pivetta recently had Covid for the third time. When he didn’t bounce back the way he’d hoped, the Red Sox slowed down his throwing program. He also decided not to join Team Canada for this month’s World Baseball Classic.
Two weekends ago, the Red Sox briefly shut down Brayan Bello after he experienced forearm tightness during the first week of spring training.
The 23-year-old righty threw his third bullpen session on Saturday.
However, Cora also told reporters, including MLB’s Ian Browne, that Garrett Whitlock is ahead of Bello regarding “throwing progression, facing hitters, and pitching in games.”
Seeing as the manager said earlier this week that Whitlock may not be ready for Opening Day, it stands to reason that Bello won’t be, either.
If Paxton, Bello, and Whitlock begin the regular season on the injured list, the starting rotation would likely be Chris Sale, Corey Kluber, Nick Pivetta, Tanner Houck, and Kutter Crawford or Josh Winckowski.
Winckowski, a 24-year-old mustachioed righty, pitched three scoreless innings on Saturday.
Brandon Walter, the organization’s No. 8 prospect, made another impressive appearance on Friday. Over two scoreless innings in relief, he struck out three and allowed one hit.
Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported that the league sent a memo to teams on Friday night regarding the pitch clock.
“Umpires will call a quick pitch if the pitcher delivers the ball before the batter is “reasonably set” in the batter’s box (i.e., timing the hitter’s eyes looking up),” Feinsand shared on Twitter. “Rule has always been on the books for player safety, and the pitch clock doesn’t change that. Penalty is a ball with the bases empty and a balk with runners on base.”