Lovullo keeping in constant contact with Farrell

BALTIMORE -- The manager's office remains unoccupied while the Red Sox are on the road. Interim manager Torey Lovullo has too much respect for John Farrell to take his desk. However, Lovullo continues to speak with his friend -- who is undergoing chemotherapy treatments for Stage 1 lymphoma -- on a daily basis.

"I talked to him today," said Lovullo. "John's doing well. He is through his second treatment and has one more full round of chemo left. He's doing great. His voice is strong. He sounded good. We talked about a lot of baseball things. We talked a lot about personal stuff. It's just nice to hear his voice."

Though their methods of communication aren't always the same, Lovullo makes sure the contact with Farrell is daily.

"At the very least I'll text him and we'll text back and forth," Lovullo said. "I try to call him every day when we're on the road. Whether it's FaceTime or whether it's just a voice call."

Though Farrell's top priority is his health, he remains involved in what is going on with the Red Sox.

"Today, I talked to him about [Junichi Tazawa]," said Lovullo. "I talked to him a little bit about Joe Kelly. Nothing really about lineup construction. I'll tell him what we're thinking about the rotation of the outfield, just to update him. And he's following what's going on. If I talk to him tonight or tomorrow, he'll ask how it looked or how something went and we just talk baseball."