BOSTON -- Though Roman Anthony hasn’t been cleared to swing yet, the Red Sox had some positive news on the outfielder on Tuesday, as a follow-up MRI on the partially torn tendon in his right ring finger showed that he’s healing properly.
Monday marked the six-week anniversary of Anthony’s injury on an awkward check-swing foul ball in Detroit.
“Everything looked good, healing properly,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said prior to Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays. “That does not mean that because the picture said that, he’s hitting today. It just means that we did a follow-up at the six-week mark just to see.
"Things are looking good, but it's still going to be at his progress and how he feels, and the medical staff will determine each day if he’s going to swing and try and see where we’re at, and we’ll progress based on medical and his feelings. Definitely a positive step there.”
Anthony’s initial hitting program coming out of the injury was shut down on May 28, when he felt discomfort at the end of his swing.
The training staff will continue to give Anthony tests and will base his progression on how he feels.
There was also a modest step forward for ace Garrett Crochet, who suffered a low-grade lat strain during catch play the same day Anthony’s swing program shut down.
Crochet has started to do some light throwing with a plyo ball. If that goes well, Crochet (who has been on the injured list since April 29 due to left shoulder inflammation) could re-initiate a throwing program in the near future.
“They're going to reassess him at the end of the week and see where we're at with that,” Tracy said.
Though Anthony (slash line of .229/.354/.321) and Crochet (3-3, 6.30 ERA) both weren’t having the seasons they envisioned before their injuries, the Red Sox (29-40) need all the reinforcements they can get as they try to shake free from a tough start to the season.
Crochet said a few days ago he won’t be back until after the All-Star break. There is no timetable yet for Anthony.
“I think it's anywhere from six to eight weeks [from the injury], but again, there's been a million different cases of a million different people taking six weeks, eight weeks, 10 weeks, whatever it is,” said Anthony on Saturday. “Everyone heals differently. So my best guess, it would be somewhere around that point, but again, we haven't really talked much about it.”