Wilyer Abreu goes on injured list with left oblique strain
“Obviously not the way you want it, right? Wily’s a good player, great defender, good at-bat, but [Anthony] will be here.”
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Roman Anthony’s arrival in the big leagues didn’t come without a cost. A spot for the heralded rookie opened when Wilyer Abreu — the reigning Gold Glover in right field who ranked second on the team with 13 homers — landed on the injured list with what the team described as a left oblique strain.
Abreu showed apparent discomfort on Friday in New York, and the situation worsened to the point of catching manager Alex Cora’s attention on Sunday night.
“There was a fly ball he hit to center, and I saw him running to first and, like, there’s something going on here,” said Cora before the Red Sox’ 10-8 loss to the Rays in 11 innings Monday night.
The Sox initially considered keeping Abreu on the active roster and using a defensive alignment of Ceddanne Rafaela in right field and Kristian Campbell in center. But once it became clear Abreu would need more than a couple of days, the team called up Anthony.
“Obviously not the way you want it, right? Wily’s a good player, great defender, good at-bat, but [Anthony] will be here,” said Cora.
The precise duration of Abreu’s absence — and whether it will extend beyond the 10-day minimum — remains to be determined. So, too, is Anthony’s role, with Cora unsure about the frequency with which the lefthanded slugging prospect will be used against lefties, and whether he might see more time in right (where he made his debut on Monday), left (where Anthony had spent most of this season in Worcester), or center (where Anthony has played for most of his minor league career).
“Obviously, there’s an adjustment period in the big leagues, and I’m not saying we’re going to ease him into the action, but we understand the [quality of the] at-bat,” said Cora. “We’ll mix and match, but I’m happy that he’s here, and I know he’s going to contribute.”
Managing Devers
On a groundout to second base on Sunday night against the Yankees, Rafael Devers had been in a full sprint to first base and then decelerated to a slow jog as he approached the bag on what could have been a close play.
On Monday, Cora reiterated that the slowdown “wasn’t about hustling,” and acknowledged that Devers — who has played all 68 games this year — is managing some health issues in order to stay on the field.
“He’s played every day. Obviously, he’s the DH, and there’s certain things — nothing major — but stuff that we have to pay attention to,” said Cora. “He’s doing OK. … He’ll do his thing in the training room. He keeps it very quiet, because he wants to post. But, talking to [trainer Brandon Henry], [it’s] nothing major, something we can actually handle, and he’ll be playing.”
This year marks the first time in his career that Devers has played the first 68 Red Sox games of the season.
Van Belle called up
With the Red Sox in need of arms, the team called up righthander Brian Van Belle from Triple A Worcester for his big league debut.
Van Belle, 28, signed with the Sox out of the University of Miami as an undrafted free agent in 2020 (the year of the COVID-compressed, five-round draft), and logged more than 500 innings in the minors for the Sox. He was 5-1 with a 2.29 ERA, 20 percent strikeout rate, and 7 percent walk rate for the WooSox this year.
“I’m a big believer in just keeping your head down and continuing to grind,” said Van Belle. “The big thing for me is just to continue to trust your work, go out there and just do your thing every time they hand you the ball and ultimately it may get to a point where you force some people’s hands. I feel like that’s what happened with me.”
Houck back at it
Tanner Houck (flexor pronator strain) threw a bullpen session on Saturday and is scheduled to throw another this week, but isn’t close to a rehab assignment … Masataka Yoshida continues to struggle with his recovery while trying to extend his throwing program. He hasn’t been able to throw beyond 75 feet … To make room for Van Belle on the 40-man roster, righthander Robert Stock, who struggled in the ninth inning of Sunday’s win, was designated for assignment … To make room for Anthony on the 40-man roster, the Sox designated WooSox first baseman Ryan Noda (recently acquired for cash considerations from the Angels) for assignment … Lefthander Zach Penrod, who opened the year on the 60-day injured list because of elbow inflammation but is now healthy in Triple A Worcester, is positioning himself as a depth option. He’s thrown 4⅓ scoreless innings with six strikeouts in Worcester, and his fastball velocity has been up to 95-97 m.p.h. in recent outings. Cora described Penrod as “a guy who’s probably going to be in the mix for what we’re trying to accomplish pretty soon.”
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