fb-pixel Skip to main content
RED SOX NOTEBOOK

Dustin Pedroia to have MRI Monday

Dustin Pedroia’s knee and ankle were injured when Baltimore’s Manny Machado slid into him on Friday.Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

BALTIMORE — Second baseman Dustin Pedroia was out of the Red Sox lineup again Sunday with swelling in his left knee and ankle, the result of a takeout slide by Baltimore’s Manny Machado on Friday.

Pedroia is scheduled for an MRI at Massachusetts General Hospital on Monday to determine the extent of his injuries. He had surgery on his left knee in October.

“He’s still sore, both in the ankle and the knee,” manager John Farrell said. “Unavailable once again today. When we get back to Boston, he’ll go through some further imaging just to rule anything out.

“With some of the swelling that still exists, not available for today.”

Advertisement



Pedroia was hopeful he might miss only a day. But the swelling has increased concern that he could have a more significant injury.

“His importance to us speaks for itself,” Farrell said.

Marco Hernandez was in the lineup at second base.

Price throws again

David Price was on the field at Camden Yards at 9:43 a.m. to play catch, working his way out to 120 feet. The session lasted five minutes and encompassed 30 throws.

Farrell, head athletic trainer Brad Pearson, and assistant athletic trainer Masai Takahashi accompanied Price to the field and closely watched him.

It’s clear the Red Sox were concerned about the condition of Price’s elbow last week when he felt soreness after expanding his throwing program. They indefinitely postponed plans for him to face hitters and further spaced out when he throws in the bullpen.

But Price seems to be getting over that. He is now scheduled to throw in the bullpen at Fenway Park on Monday. That workout is expected to include 45 pitches spread out over two simulated innings.

That should line Price up to face hitters for the first time since Feb. 28, the day he was injured.

Advertisement



“Hopefully that’s getting closer,” Farrell said. “Once we get through [Monday’s] work session, kind of begin to map out maybe a little bit more of a structure on a calendar. I think we’re at that point.

“Any time you get to the number of pitches thrown, as will be [Monday], you can start to foresee a progression to hitters and then ultimately to games. We don’t have that in place right now.”

Farrell believes Price is past the soreness that led to the slowdown of his program.

“I think so,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a complete surprise when you begin to ramp up the intensity and the volume. We had to monitor and adjust based on what David is feeling and his feedback. So we’re back on track.”

Sandoval comes out

Pablo Sandoval left the game after the sixth inning with a sprained right knee, the result of crouching down attempting to catch a line drive.

“He felt a strain or a stretch inside the right knee,” Farrell said.

Sandoval will be checked out on Monday. If he and Pedroia are unavailable Tuesday, the Sox may need to make a roster move.

Josh Rutledge is four games into his injury rehabilitation assignment with Triple A Pawtucket. He is 1 for 9 with a home run and three walks. He has played two games at third base.

The PawSox were rained out on Sunday and are off on Monday. The rehab plan was for Rutledge to play nine innings at least twice before being activated. That may have to be adjusted now.

Advertisement



Before he strained his left hamstring in the final week of spring training, the Red Sox planned to open the season with Rutledge as a righthanded-hitting option at third base.

With Sandoval 3 of 16 (.188) against lefties, Rutledge could get significant playing time as a platoon player.

Kimbrel cleans up

Craig Kimbrel got a three-pitch save, getting Machado to pop up to end the game with two runners aboard after Fernando Abad allowed a run. Kimbrel has retired 18 of the last 19 batters he has faced . . . Hanley Ramirez still owns a glove and worked out at first base on Friday. But Farrell said Ramirez is still dealing with “some things” in both shoulders, not just the right shoulder that was sore in spring training. “To say that he’s going to be on first base for the next lefthander we face, that’s too early to tell that,” Farrell said. The Sox next face a lefty on Thursday, when CC Sabathia starts for the Yankees . . . Congratulations to Red Sox senior manager of media relations Abby DeCiccio, who wed Eamon Murphy on Saturday in Parsonsfield, Maine.


Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @peteabe.