Nick Pivetta threw a bullpen session today, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora gave reporters (including MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo) a rough timeline of when the righty might return from the right flexor strain that sent Pivetta to the 15-day injured list on April 6. Cora outlined that Pivetta is around 10 days away from facing live hitters and then will get probably two minor league rehab starts, so if all goes well, Pivetta should be back in Boston’s rotation by around the middle of May.
There was some initial hope that Pivetta could miss just the minimum 15 days when he first went on the IL, yet it isn’t surprising that Pivetta and the Sox are showing extra precaution with a flexor injury. Cora said that Pivetta “felt good today” after the bullpen, which is a nice first step in the recovery process. The IL stint interrupted a great start to the season for the righty, who looked flat out dominant in posting an 0.82 ERA over his first two outings and 11 innings of the 2024 campaign.
Some items from around the AL East…
- DJ LeMahieu was set to begin a minor league rehab assignment yesterday, but an MRI revealed that his right foot fracture hadn’t entirely healed. The infielder could still begin his assignment as early as Tuesday, though “we’re just being conservative with this thing,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone told ESPN News Services and other media. “He’s doing really well and I know he feels ready to go, but the foot specialist has weighed in. We want to make sure this thing’s 100 percent.” LeMahieu suffered the injury about a month ago after fouling a ball off his foot in Spring Training, and is healthy enough to partake in such baseball activities as batting practice and fielding drills, even if he hasn’t gotten the green light for rehab games just yet.
- Blue Jays pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann underwent an MRI on Thursday to explore discomfort in his throwing elbow, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi reports (X link). Tiedemann was already placed on the Triple-A injured list earlier this week, and perhaps ominously, there haven’t yet been any updates over the MRI results. Shoulder and biceps problems limited Tiedemann to only 44 total minor league innings in 2023, and while a potential Major League debut is seemingly on the horizon for the southpaw this season, the Jays’ first priority is just rebuilding Tiedemann’s arm strength and getting him back in the groove of regular starting assignments. Tiedemann is ranked as both Toronto’s top prospect and one of the better pitching prospects in all of baseball, though he has been shaky in posting a 5.63 ERA over three starts and eight innings for Triple-A Buffalo this season, with more walks (nine) than innings pitched.
Sox badly need Pivetta healthy and productive.
Sounds like another 20-25 days.
Might be worth giving Fitts a cup of coffee in the majors? He now has 30 starts in the upper minors, and is throwing well. Even if he isn’t yet a finished product, it might help him figure out what he needs to work on.
Pivetta should not come back early. He’s playing for a new contract and if coming back before he’s ready could lead to a need for surgery, he stays out until there is no concern. Would love to work out an extension because I believe he found himself finally last year. If he enjoys success once he returns, he’ll sadly price himself out of Henry’s purse.
I take it that you have inside information that Cora is not privy to? Cora’s statements are what suggested the 20-25 day time frame.
Pivetta has Ace potential, I think in the open market the Sox will get outbid but maybe he signs an extension before the season is over. Maybe Henry decides he’s one person he must keep, I hope so anyway. This division going to be close all season, 92 wins will win it in my eyes. I can see a situation where every club is within 5 games by the final two weeks and could finish in a range of 87-92 wins. The AL East gonna be wild….
Pivetta is 31 years old. He has good stuff, but he has “solid number three starter” potential.
bum – Obviously you’re projecting devastating injuries for the Yankees and O’s, but considering Baltimore is on pace for 102 wins despite not having Bradish or Means until next month and the Yankees are on pace for 108 wins despite not having Cole and both Judge and Rizzo way underperforming, I expect both teams to win at least 97 games each.
The Red Sox within 5 games of first place by the final two weeks? Please don’t put money on that, I truly don’t want to see you lose it. Even before the Casas injury they were projected to finish the season with a losing record. I refuse to project a win total in the 60’s like many have, simply because they aren’t that bad, but the smart money is 70-75 wins.
As for Pivetta, I already said the same thing weeks ago …. if the Sox give him a fair extension offer, hopefully he’ll accept it. If he goes to free agency he’s probably good as gone, because it will be a very thin group of free agent pitchers.
I really don’t think they are as bad as projected. I think they will be above .500 because the schedule is no longer imbalanced. I think the Sox will over perform against the rest of the AL outside the AL East. I think as constituted barring anymore injuries. I’m curious to see if Cora puts Grissom at Short when he’s back and take Hamilton out. If he does an average job it will save a couple games, an above average job will hide Devers some. The more you can hide Devers and Yoshida from the field the better the team will be. I think Bello and Pivetta are being undervalued by projectors. Whitlock is the wild card here, if he becomes the #3 and does well, I think the pen is solid enough this squad should get about 82- 87 wins. They got no depth though so anymore significant injuries and that’s up in smoke.
Fever- I think Kimbrel will regress and be human because he’s aging. I think that Means is a walking injury waiting to happen and can’t be relied on. I believe the Baltimore bullpen is going to miss Bautista this year. Cano is going to have to step up, we will see.
I think the Yankees are playing way over their heads right now. I do think Stanton will miss a bunch of games at some point, it’s his MO. I think the starting rotation has been a lot better than advertised but I think they will come back to Earth. Rodon and Schmidt have WHIPS above 1.5 so I think their ERAs are artificial, especially when the opponent batting average is above .280…..I don’t trust Stroman to pitch a sub- 3 ERA all year. I do recognize Cole will be back though soon.
Pivetta will be trade.. Jarsen,smith and meabe O’nell too ! Sox don’t want to pay!!
Not smith is Chris Martin oup
Tiedemann feels like he’s on the same track as Nate Pearson.
High level Jays pitching prospect who just can’t stay healthy enough to be a high level Jays pitcher.
A few years from now, he could end up having to take over Pearson’s role as a mop-up arm in the pen.
Outside of Marcus Stroman, I don’t think the Jays have been able to develop an upper rotation major league pitcher with staying power since Roy Halladay, and he was over 25 years ago.
Ricky Romero, Dustin McGowan, Kyle Drabek, Aaron Sanchez, Justin Nicolino, Noah Syndergaard, Daniel Norris, maybe Brett Cecil, and a few others have all been the future at various points over that span, and Syndergaard is the only one who even remotely stuck around the bigs.
It’s been rough.
Tiedemann is done for 2024-2025.. Sad.. Clubs push these kids..
130 innings in 3 years. Pushed? Do your research before posting
Sadly, looks like DJL is becoming the highest paid coach on the Yankees staff
Casas left the game today with discomfort in the left rib area after his first AB and is going for tests. He is not doing well per Cora.
The only position player on the 40 man roster who is not already either active or on the DL is Heineman. Guess he gets the call?!?
TFF17: Maybe. It’s getting crazy. The only other thing I see without DFAing someone is to transfer Mata from the 15 day IL to the 60 day IL which would open up a spot on the 40 man for someone like Kavadas who is doing well playing first base in AAA. However, that may lead to an unwanted DFA later. It doesn’t look good.
Was watching the game when swung and looked like winced. The Red Sox are not going to have any hitters left. At least Abreu looks locked in hopefully Yoshida can start to hit as well. Hopefully it’s not to serious. The pitching is off to a great start.
Bruin: Abreu does look good. I am still optimistic for Valdez and Rafaela. Why are you concerned about Mayer as you mentioned the other day?
Trade Pivetta at deadline and O”Neil we don’t have a shot this year they should bring in a healthy haul