BOSTON – For the Red Sox, there was good news on the injury front on Friday regarding two key players.
Red Sox right-hander Tanner Houck could start a Minor League rehab assignment by Wednesday. Third baseman Alex Bregman – targeting a return before the All-Star break – hopes to avoid a rehab assignment.
Bregman suffered a right quad strain on May 23, and there was initial fear that his absence could be longer than two months given that a left quad injury kept him out for 10 weeks in 2021. But this recovery is going much better.
“I’m feeling good running,” Bregman said. “We had a little ultrasound that showed that it was doing really well and healing the way we wanted it to. So [I’m] just continuing the progression and getting it stronger and picking up the running volume, and it's moving in the right direction.”
Bregman comes to the ballpark every day at 11 a.m. for his regimen of treatment and rehab, and he stays for about 12 hours.
“I’m running up to like 50%, throwing and doing all the gym stuff, workout stuff, all that good stuff,” Bregman said. “Trying to strengthen it every day. I mean, we're basically rehabbing for 12 hours a day, so I’m just trying to get back on the field as fast as possible and help this team win baseball games.”
When someone asked Bregman what the next steps would be prior to going on a rehab assignment, his answer was noteworthy.
“I don’t even know if there will be one, but I’m just continuing to add volume running and adding,” said Bregman. “I don't know [about a rehab assignment]. There might be, there might not be. I'm not too positive, but we'll see.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn’t dispute the chance of Bregman skipping a rehab assignment, though that is atypical for a player who misses a month or more of action.
“I mean, we’ve got ways for him to get at-bats here,” said Cora. “His at-bats will not change. Obviously, his timing will be a little bit off, but we’ll get there when we get there. We'll keep gathering information, and then we go from there.
“He's in a good spot mentally. He’s made some progress, but I don't want to jump the gun and start thinking ahead. I’ve been patient throughout the process, and I'll stay the same way.”
The buildup for a pitcher is much different, which is why the Red Sox want to get Houck to an affiliate as quickly as possible.
Houck has made considerable progress within the past week or so, and he threw an up-and-down session off the mound on Friday as teammate Jarren Duran tracked pitches.
“Most likely he’ll be on a rehab assignment Wednesday. Or have one more of these [live sessions] and then [go on rehab] at the end of the week,” said Cora. “But he feels really good about it. Just watching it from the backstop, good fastball, good breaking ball, good split. Just repetitions. And hopefully he bounces back the right way, and he can actually go on a rehab assignment on Wednesday.”
Houck was having a tough season (0-3, 8.04 ERA) before landing on the 15-day injured list on May 14 with a right flexor pronator strain. Things are much different since his last start on May 12, when he allowed 11 earned runs for the second time this season.
“I feel good out there with the body, delivery, and the arm especially,” Houck said. “I feel a lot stronger and am better able to execute my pitches.”
How did Houck come to the realization that going on the injured list was the best step?
“I wasn’t quite recovering in the same way that I know my body should. I think at this point in my career, I know where I get sore and I need to get sore, what’s normal for me, but ultimately it was going into the wrong spots,” Houck said. “I know for me, I’m a shoulder soreness kind of guy in the back of the scap region. And for me to get sore in the elbow like that is not normal.”
The return of a rejuvenated Houck would help a rotation that has struggled with consistency beyond ace Garrett Crochet.