Sale will throw when 'absolutely pain free'

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- While the Red Sox have a general idea of when injured ace Chris Sale might start throwing again, they know exactly what will have to happen before he is cleared.

“[When he is] absolutely pain free,” said interim manager Ron Roenicke. "Like, today, I saw them in the training room going through exercises and probably testing out the elbow to make sure there’s nothing there.

“If there’s still pain there, we can’t have him start throwing. And I don’t mean just pain walking around. I mean, doing exercises and putting stress on it. I haven’t talked to [trainer] Brad [Pearson] this morning. I talked to one of the other trainers and they said he’s not going to throw today.

“So every day they re-evaluate him and see how he’s doing and then when he’s pain free in some of the stresses they’re putting him through, he’ll try to throw again.”

Roenicke estimated that the earliest Sale will throw is on Saturday or Sunday.

On March 5, the Sox announced that Sale had a flexor strain in his left elbow and wouldn’t pick up a baseball for at least another week.

Thursday is the one-week anniversary of that announcement but the Red Sox seem inclined to be a little more conservative.

Sale was candid last week in saying that if his elbow doesn’t respond well when he resumes throwing, anything is possible, including season-ending Tommy John Surgery.

The Red Sox and Sale are hopeful it won’t come to that.

The seven-time All Star has 2,007 career strikeouts across 10 seasons, including a career-best 308 in 2017, his first year with the Red Sox. His absence leaves Boston searching to fill out the rotation behind Eduardo Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi, Martín Pérez and Ryan Weber.

Verdugo back in the swing of things
Alex Verdugo’s spring has probably felt longer than most, as the outfielder has been very limited in activity as he recovers from the stress fracture in his back. It was good news for everyone, then, that Verdugo took 20 swings in the batting cages on Monday and Tuesday and reported no problems. He’s also extending his throwing distance from 60 feet to 90 feet.

A key piece in the Mookie Betts trade with the Dodgers, Verdugo won’t be ready to start the season on time but will eventually land in the outfield.

Brewer open for business?
If Tuesday’s 3-2 win against the Cardinals is any indication, it appears Colten Brewer is being stretched out to fill an opener role. The 27-year-old entered in the sixth inning and earned the victory with 2 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit.

Brewer also fanned three, including the first two hitters he faced. Roenicke was impressed enough by the righty’s work that he said the Red Sox will stretch Brewer out even further next time around, in a “B” game on the back fields.

If the Red Sox decide to learn toward an opener in lieu of a fifth starter to begin the season, Roenicke said Brewer could “be a big piece of that.”

“He's throwing the ball great,” Roenicke added. “He’s so much more aggressive in the strike zone. Last year was kind of off and on … but right now, what I see, he’s just getting after it. Just going right at people.”

Up next
Rodriguez has been on a roll this spring and will look to extend his dominant streak on Wednesday when the Red Sox travel to face the Rays in a night game in Port Charlotte.

Rodriguez scattered three hits and struck out four in four innings against the Braves his last time out, and his offspeed stuff was looking nasty as he looks to fill the void left by Sale at the front of the rotation. Also slated to throw in the 6:35 p.m. ET matchup are right-handers Ryan Brasier, Heath Hembree, Domingo Tapia and Austin Brice.