BOSTON -- The Red Sox had an addition to their recent parade of injuries on Tuesday, as starter Thomas Pomeranz was placed on the 10-day disabled list with left biceps tendinitis. The move was made retroactive to Saturday.
To fill Pomeranz's spot on the roster, the club recalled righty Brandon Workman from Triple-A Pawtucket. Left-hander Jalen Beeks will be recalled from Triple-A Pawtucket on Thursday to start in place of Pomeranz.
Beeks, ranked No. 15 among Red Sox prospects by MLB Pipeline, has dazzled at Pawtucket this season, posting a 2.56 ERA and 0.98 WHIP.
"The way he looks, the way we lined up for the rest of the week, it makes sense to bring him up and get him here, see how he goes," Red Sox manager Alex Cora said.
Steven Wright was inserted into the rotation on Tuesday to give the other starters extra rest, and he dazzled, pitching seven brilliant innings in a 6-0 win over the Tigers. It could be that Beeks makes the one start before going back to Triple-A, and Wright takes over the fifth spot in the rotation.
Position players Mookie Betts (left abdominal strain) and Dustin Pedroia (left knee inflammation) went on the disabled list this past weekend.
What happened with Pomeranz?
"Coming out of the Houston start, it was kind of like hard for him to bounce back, so we decided to put him on the DL," Cora said. "Hopefully it's something that he'll come back from right away."
The earliest Pomeranz is eligible to pitch for the Red Sox again is June 12 at Baltimore.
Though ace Chris Sale could have pitched Thursday in place of Pomeranz with five days of rest, Cora is opting to go with his original plan of Sale starting Friday against the White Sox.
"We feel they need that; for them to catch a breather. No way we were going to move them up after their mind was set to have their off-days and go through their preparation that way," Cora said.
The Red Sox are mulling their options for the finale of this three-game series against the Tigers. They could have a "bullpen" game, or call someone up from Pawtucket.
Pomeranz started the season on the DL with a left forearm flexor strain, and has struggled since his return, going 1-3 with a 6.81 ERA in eight starts.
Mookie making progress
Betts is making incremental progress from the injury that has kept him out of action since May 27. Betts hit off a tee prior to Tuesday's game. If he can advance to regular batting practice in the next couple of days, there's a chance he could be activated when he is first eligible on Friday night.
But if Cora learned anything last week, it was to not get ahead of himself.
"He said he feels great, he feels better," Cora said. "So he was feeling better in Houston, and then he took a few swings and he decided not to keep going, so we'll see how it goes."
Houston, we have a problem
The Red Sox had a tough time getting home from Houston after Sunday night's win.
"We got in at 9 a.m. [Monday]," Cora said. "Mechanical problems, which, I was like, we can't complain about this. It's either get in at 9 or take our chances. I mean, honestly. Somebody asked me, 'Can you believe this?' I was like, 'Yeah. I want to get home [safely].' I think we left Houston like at 3:50 in the morning, Whatever that was. I walked in and saw one of the twins smiling at me at 10 in the morning. So that was cool."
Cora's twin boys are almost 10 months old.
Pedroia gets peace of mind
Pedroia got good news on Tuesday in his visit with Dr. Riley Williams, who performed Pedroia's cartilage restoration procedure last October.
"With Pedey, everything about the surgery is fine. He just has some inflammation. I was actually talking to him during the game. It's kind of like with David [Price], after he saw the doctor, now he can calm down and get treatment and hopefully he'll be with us sooner than later," Cora said. "It's nothing that has to do with surgery, so that's good."
The earliest Pedroia is eligible to be activated is Saturday. Because he played in just three games before returning to the DL, the Red Sox might be conservative with his timetable.
"Treatment [Wednesday]," Cora said. "He hasn't gotten treatment the last two days. Then we go from there. I think he should be back to baseball activities, slowly but surely, probably starting in two days."