Red Sox will activate Eric Hosmer for season’s final series

Sox manager Alex Cora said his plan was to give first baseman Eric Hosmer one start in the three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.Carlin Stiehl for The Boston Globe

TORONTO — It has been six-plus weeks since Eric Hosmer last played for the Red Sox. But the team plans to activate him off the injured list for the final series of the season.

“There’s a good chance [Monday],” manager Alex Cora said on Sunday before a 6-3 loss against the Blue Jays. “He’s feeling well during the weekend. He’s been doing his stuff at home at Fenway so there’s a good chance he’ll be activated.”

Hosmer was a surprise trade acquisition from the San Diego Padres on Aug. 2. He then hit .225 with a .611 OPS in 12 games before going on the injured list with what the team said was low back inflammation.

With the minor league season ending last month, Hosmer has not appeared in any rehabilitation games. He has instead prepared by taking batting practice off a high-tech pitching simulator at Fenway that mimics game-speed pitches from specific pitchers.

“It’s very expensive,” Cora said. “It’s pretty cool.”

Cora said his plan was to give Hosmer one start in the three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays.

“It’s good that he wanted to do it and he put himself in this situation,” Cora said. “We’ll use him.”

With rookie Triston Casas performing well, it’s unlikely the Red Sox would want two lefthanded hitting first basemen on the roster in 2023. This late-season cameo may be a showcase to show potential trade partners that Hosmer is healthy.

The Sox sent Double A lefthander Jay Groome to the Padres for Hosmer and two prospects. San Diego is responsible for all but the yearly major league minimum of the $39 million Hosmer has remaining on his contract from 2023-25.

In theory, that would make it easy to trade the 32-year-old Hosmer to a team in need of a first baseman.

On turn

The Sox plan to start Rich Hill, Nate Eovaldi, and Nick Pivetta against Tampa Bay in the final series of the season, which starts Monday night.

“We expect 30,000 people at home. They deserve the best that we have,” Cora said.

Eovaldi, who will be making his second start since coming off the injured list, will likely be limited to 85 pitches.

The Rays, who start a Wild Card series on Friday, have Tyler Glasnow, Jeffrey Springs, and Drew Rasmussen lined up.

Sorry, no sale

Chris Sale hasn’t been around the team for 11 weeks because of fractures in his left pinkie finger and right wrist. There were plans for the lefty to fly up from Florida for the final homestand but that is unlikely in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. Sale pitched in two games this season, both on the road … The Sox finished the season 35-46 on the road, their worst mark since having that same record in 2015 … Pivetta’s earned run average went up on a day he didn’t pitch. Major League Baseball issued a scoring change for Friday’s game, changing a passed ball charged to Reese McGuire in the first inning to a wild pitch for Pivetta. The run that scored after the wild pitch is now earned and Pivetta’s ERA went from 4.51 to 4.56 … A reminder that the Red Sox will be collecting donations and supplies at all Fenway Park gates over the final three games to aid victims of Hurricane Fiona in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico. Donations also can be made at redsoxfoundation.org/relief.