Red Sox, Ranger Suarez can only wait and hope on pitcher’s injury
· Yahoo Sports
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Red Sox didn’t have any answers on the severity of the injury that forced starting pitcher Ranger Suarez from the third inning of Sunday’s 7-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels.
The team announced later in the game that Suarez had suffered a strained left adductor.
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“Anytime you see (a player leave with an injury), you’re always concerned,” said interim manager Chad Tracy. “We’ll have a better idea (Monday). Those things always present one way and then you see how they wake up and check them out.”
Initially, it appeared that Suarez suffered the injury when he leaped off the mound to try to field a high chopper. But the pitcher later said he felt something on the last pitch he threw.
“With that pitch that I threw, I felt a big pinch around the ground area,” said Suarez. “I tried to throw another pitch, but still felt it. It’s only been two hours. The training staff wants to see how I feel (Monday) or the next day, then we’ll make a decision on where we go from there.”
Tracy was unsure whether the injury might require an IL stint for the veteran lefty.
“I don’t have a feel on it yet,” said Tracy. “There’s things like that that pop up and then you check the next day and they can get better quick. It’s hard to say right now until we see how he feels coming out of it (Monday). With an off-day, we’ll be able to check on him.”
Tracy said he didn’t anticipate that Suarez would undergo an MRI Monday, though that could change depending on circumstances.
Already, the Red Sox are down one starter after losing Connelly Early earlier in the week. Early left his last outing after just four innings, complaining of discomfort in his left elbow. The Red Sox identified the issue as elbow inflammation and imaging revealed nothing beyond that, but Early has elected to visit Dr. Barry Meister in Texas later this week “for peace of mind,” according to Tracy.
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To fill Early’s spot in the rotation, the Red Sox are expected to activate Patrick Sandoval from his recent rehab assignment. Thanks to Monday’s off-day on the schedule, the team doesn’t need to insert a starter until Saturday. But the team currently lists Thursday’s starter in Chicago as TBD, suggesting that could be Sandoval’s turn.
After that, the Sox could potentially fill Suarez’s spot with a bullpen game, or perhaps recall Brayan Bello, who has spent the last month in Worcester working to improve on a poor first two months in the Boston rotation.
Suarez would only have one more scheduled start before the All-Star break, so it might behoove the Red Sox to allow him to rest through the final week of the first half.
The injury also could jeopardize his participation in the upcoming All-Star Game, to which he was selected Saturday. Suarez was chosen for the game once before in 2024, but was forced to miss that appearance because of injury.
Now, history could repeat itself.
“Right now, I’m not thinking about that,” said Suarez. “For me, the most important thing is just to be as healthy as possible for the second half. I’m not thinking about anything other than that.”
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