MIAMI – Catcher Adley Rutschman was out of the Red Sox lineup for the second game of their three-game series against the Marlins on Tuesday. According to interim manager Chad Tracy, Rutschman had some irritation in his right elbow after a swing he took in Boston's 4-2 win against Miami on Monday.
Rutschman had a wrap on his right arm ahead of the game.
“He took a really aggressive swing [last night],” Tracy said pregame. “He kind of hyperextended his elbow. Nothing to be alarmed about. Just felt like I don't want to make that worse.”
Rutschman is experiencing some soreness in the elbow, so the decision was made not to irritate it further.
How the catcher has handled his interactions with his pitchers is something that has been fun for Tracy to watch since he joined the team via a trade with the Orioles on Aug. 3.
“He's so engaged in that part of it,” Tracy said. “He's really, really good at taking an at-bat, an intensive at-bat, whether he has success or not, finishing the at-bat and coming and putting his gear on and immediately engaging with [pitching coach Andrew Bailey]. And his entire focus shifts on a snap finger on that pitcher and what needs to be done defensively in that inning.”
To Tracy, Rutschman is a great teammate and is someone who separates his offense from his defense, which his manager considers the most important part.
Third baseman Caleb Durbin was also out of the lineup on Tuesday, but that was just for a scheduled day off.
“I did it with [Andruw Monasterio] yesterday,” Tracy said. “Felt like a good one for Durb today. We have a long stretch coming up, [the] last long stretch of the year. I guess you could say [14] games in [13] days coming out of that off-day. So Durbin is just getting a breather.”
Connor Wong started at catcher and Nick Sogard started at third.