BOSTON – When Adley Rutschman was out of the lineup for the second straight night on Wednesday, it raised some eyebrows, particularly because the catcher has been dealing with a hyperextended right elbow for more than two weeks.
It turns out the plan was by design, in conjunction with Thursday’s team off-day.
With the benefit of not playing for three days but only missing two games, Rutschman had a cortisone injection for his ailing elbow following Monday afternoon’s game against the Angels.
The plan is that he will return to the lineup on Friday night against the Royals.
“It wasn’t an injection like, ‘Oh, something went wrong.’” said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy. “It was an injection that was like, ‘We got him through with the days off [earlier].’ And looking at, as we came home, we knew he was going to be out on Tuesday anyway. And timing-wise, we were looking for a window to do that -- to get him over the hump.”
Rutschman, who belted two homers in his first game back in Baltimore last Thursday and hit a towering homer against the Angels on Monday, has been feeling significantly better than when the injury first happened in Miami on Aug. 24.
“Should be back Friday, if everything goes well,” said Tracy.
Backup catcher Connor Wong started in Tuesday’s 6-1 loss; Tracy went with Mickey Gasper behind the plate on Wednesday.
While Gasper has been red-hot since his return from Triple-A Worcester in mid-August, he had been used exclusively at DH and first base during this stint.
Gasper started 12 games for the Red Sox between May 22 and June 10. His ability to catch could make him an intriguing option for the postseason roster, in that it would give Tracy more flexibility to pinch-hit or pinch-run.
In other news, first baseman Willson Contreras, Boston’s cleanup man, could be back in the lineup as soon as Saturday. He will play a Minor League rehab game for Double-A Portland on Friday. Contreras was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain.
The earliest he could have been activated is Friday.
“He will play at least Friday and we'll check in with him after that, but he wants to go get on his feet, move around,” said Tracy.
Meanwhile, center fielder Eli White, who has been filling in while Ceddanne Rafaela is on the injured list with a right quadriceps strain, suffered an injury himself in Tuesday’s loss.
White jumped against the grate in center field that covers a restaurant, and banged up his right foot.
“He’s going to go through some imaging today,” said Tracy. “He's doing that now, and maybe later tonight, maybe tomorrow, some more [imaging], just to see what's exactly going on there. We were optimistic about it last night, but he definitely was more sore today. But yeah, he jammed it pretty good, jumping up against that garage.”
Nate Eaton, who filled Rafaela’s roster spot on Sunday, got the start in center.