Yoan Moncada’s return from back soreness is having the feel of after the All-Star break.
The third baseman who landed on the 10-day injured list last Thursday is only playing light catch and isn’t hitting yet, so expect Jake Burger to have an extended run at the hot corner.
“It could be 10 days, it could be two weeks. I don’t have an answer,” manager Pedro Grifol said when asked about a timeline for Moncada.
Two more weeks would take him July 5 with five games left before the break. At that point it would make sense to allow for more time. In any event, the timeline for any back problem is iffy.
“The back is weird,” said Grifol, who knows back problems from experience. “I guess it will let you know when it feels good and then you can take the next step. I don’t have an answer to that. Just depends on how he progresses and he’s day to day.
Moncada, 28, is batting .232/.279/.370 with three homers, 13 RBI and 17 runs in 38 games. He worked hard in the offseason preparing for the World Baseball Classic, made the WBC all-tournament team playing for Cuba and then experienced back issues late in spring training.
Griofol said Moncada has been doing “a ton of exercises.
“He comes in here, [the training staff will] write his program up, if he feels good they’ll add something else,” Grifol said. “It’s just the way the back is.”
He was on the IL from April 11 to May 12 with the same issue.
Burger was 5-for-28 with three homers since taking over full time duty at third base. He took a .235/.286/.563 hitting line with 16 homers and .849 OPS in 199 plate appearances. Burger was second on the team in homers and OPS behind Luis Robert Jr.
Crochet update
Left-hander Garrett Crochet, who went on the 15-day IL Tuesday, received a cortisone shot in his sore left shoulder. He expects to be out two to three weeks.
“Some soreness flared up, kind of natural but at this stage coming off Tommy John [surgery] I didn’t want to press anything,” Crochet said. “With the velo being down in my last outing Thursday, I wasnt effective.”
Crochet said the setback is “tough” but he’s not too concerned.
“The cortisone shot improved the strength, which led us to believe it was just fatigue and inflammation in the shoulder,” he said.
TA sits again
Tim Anderson, who pinch hit in the Sox’ 7-6 win on Tuesday, might be ready to start Friday after the off day Thursday, Grifol said.
Anderson was pulled a game in Seattle Saturday with a sore right shoulder. Going on the IL was not considered.
“We didn’t think it was going to take 15 days and we also have value for him to do other things, like pinch-hit, pinch-run,” Grifol said. “In an emergency we can probably use him, even though we don’t want to. But an IL was just too long a period.”
This and that
Elvis Andrus started at shortstop and played his 2,000th career game.
*Right-hander Touki Toussaint, claimed off waiver from the Guardians Monday, was added to the active roster. Right-hander Nick Padilla was optioned to to Triple-A Charlotte. Toussaint, 2-1 with a 4.06 ERA for Triple-A Columbus, is a possibility to fill Mike Clevinger’s spot in the rotation Sunday.