Red Sox Rehabbers on the Horizon
August 27, 2018 - International League (IL1)
Pawtucket Red Sox News Release
3B Rafael Devers with the Pawtucket Red Sox
(Pawtucket Red Sox)
Three key members of the Boston Red Sox, all currently on the Red Sox disabled list, are expected to begin injury rehab assignments with the PawSox this week. Pitcher Steven Wright , who has been on the DL since June 23 with left knee inflammation (related to his knee surgery a year ago May), is slated to start in Pawtucket tomorrow (Tuesday) when the PawSox host Lehigh Valley at 7:05 pm at McCoy Stadium. Wright is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 10 games (4 starts) for Boston this season (from May 15 - June 22) and is 0-0 with a 4.30 ERA in 4 games (2 starts) during a rehab assignment with the PawSox from April 20 - May 11.
Wright is expected to throw tomorrow to rehabbing Red Sox catcher Christian Vazquez who has been on the Sox DL since July 8 with a fractured right pinky finger suffered on a head-first slide while stealing 2nd base on July 7 in Kansas City. Vazquez, who is scheduled to catch in Portland tonight (with Red Sox rehabbing LHP Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound), was hitting .213 in 60 games (59 as catcher) for Boston with 3 HR & 14 RBI. He was coming off a fine June, however, when he batted .298 during the month.
On Wednesday the Red Sox are expected to send 3B Rafael Devers to Pawtucket to play at McCoy on Wednesday & Thursday nights vs. the IronPigs and then possibly continue with the club on Friday evening at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Devers has had three stints on Boston's disabled list this season with this most recent coming on August 16 when he was placed on the DL with a recurring left hamstring strain. Rafael has also been on the DL from July 11-21 with left shoulder inflammation and from July 29 - August 8 with the left hamstring strain. In 102 games for the Red Sox this season (100 at 3rd base) he is batting .242 with 22 doubles, 16 HR & 55 RBI. He also rehabbed for one game with (short-A) Lowell on August 6 and went 1-for-4 with a 2-run HR in that game and then rejoined the Red Sox on August 8 for six games before going back on the DL.
Wright, who underwent cartilage restoration surgery on his left knee on May 8, 2017, has spent time in Pawtucket in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, and again in 2018. He is 23-15 with a 3.90 ERA in 65 games (44 starts) in the big leagues all with Boston (142 ER in 327.2 IP). Steven was named to the 2016 American League All-Star Team and finished that year with a 13-6 record and a 3.33 ERA in 24 starts for the Red Sox. His ERA was 10th best in the American League and his 4 complete games ranked tied for 3rd in all of Major League Baseball. Originally a member of the Cleveland Indians organization, he spent his first four years in the minor leauges as a traditional pitcher before converting to a knuckleball pitcher at the beginning of the 2011 season.
Vazquez had a terrific 2017 season with Boston batting .290 in 99 games with 5 HR & 32 RBI. He has thrown out 40% of runners attempting to steal in his Major League career (50 CS in 126 attempts) which puts him among the leading catchers in MLB since 1987 (minimum 200 games). Christian missed the entire 2015 season recovering from Tommy John surgery performed on his right elbow. He split time between Pawtucket (.270 in 42 games) and Boston (.227 in 57 games) during his comeback season of 2016.
Devers, who at the age of 21 is one of the youngest players in all of Minor League Baseball, was indeed the youngest active player in the majors when he made his big league debut on July 25 of last season in Seattle. That promotion came after a quick and successful 9-game stint with the PawSox when he hit .400 with 2 HR after joining the PawSox that July 14th. He made an immediate impact with Boston belting 8 homers in his first 20 Major League games to become the first player ever to do so before turning 21-years-old. Devers was selected as a league All-Star in each of his first four pro seasons from 2014-2017 before earning the call-up to Boston.
Images from this story
 Pitcher Steven Wright with the Pawtucket Red Sox (Jillian Souza) |
 Catcher Christian Vazquez with the Pawtucket Red Sox (Jillian Souza) |
 3B Rafael Devers with the Pawtucket Red Sox |
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