BOSTON -- For the third straight day, a hyperextended right elbow kept Adley Rutschman out of the lineup for Wednesday’s series finale against the Mariners.
The big question now is this: Will the All-Star catcher be back in there on Thursday night at Camden Yards in his first visit to the Charm City since he was traded to the Red Sox a month ago?
“Hopeful for [Thursday],” said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. “But each day, we're getting a little bit better. So like we're trying to do our best due diligence. Can we get him to a better place and then go? So just not quite there yet.”
“Trending in the right direction,” added Rutschman.
What does the switch-hitter expect when he returns to the city where he made a name for himself playing for the organization that made him the first overall pick in the 2019 Draft?
“We’ll see. It’s going to be interesting,” said Rutschman. “Talking to guys who have done it in the past, I’m sure there will be a lot of emotions.”
Given that Rutschman has been dealing with the injury for over a week, missing two games in Miami before playing three out of four in New York and missing all three against the Mariners, would it make sense to just put him on the 10-day injured list, which could be backdated by three days?
“Not yet, because I think there's still optimism on all our parts that if we give him this little rest and knowing that like if something happened in the game, we could use him [off the bench],” said Tracy. "But if we're able to get him this rest, then maybe we'd get to a place where we're able to go and not have to do a bunch of two on and two off, or whatever. So we're not there yet [in terms of the IL].”
What did Rutschman’s recent MRI show?
“Swelling,” Tracy said. “There's a little bit of bone bruising in there, and things like that. So it's nothing out of the ordinary, other than, ‘OK, this is what we thought would be causing some kind of discomfort like that.”’
There is no ligament damage.
“It's just that this thing got banged, and you get the bruising in the back [of the elbow], and you're just dealing with it. So there's this element of that thing, that's going to be uncomfortable,” Tracy said. “But if we are able to try to give him some days, that maybe we can get on the other side of that type of discomfort, knowing that it still may pop up at times. But if we give it some time, maybe we can make it a lot more manageable. That's what we're trying to do, at least.”
Rutschman first injured his elbow on a swing during the first game of the team's series against the Marlins on Aug. 24 at loanDepot park. The soreness caused him to miss the final two games of the series. The Red Sox had an off-day the following day.
Boston’s key acquisition at the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline, Rutschman returned to play three of the four games in the Yankees series over the weekend and collected three hits in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday.
The elbow might not be helping in Rutschman’s quest to get into a groove offensively. Since coming over from the Orioles, the three-time All-Star has struggled at the plate, hitting just .170 with a .500 OPS in 15 games.
However, even when Rutschman isn’t hitting, he has enormous value defensively, considering his rapport and leadership with the pitching staff and his blocking and throwing skills.