The Boston Red Sox didn’t trade for star catcher Adley Rutschman to sit him on the bench. Unfortunately, as he’s been battling small injuries, he’s struggled to consistently get into the lineup for the Red Sox.
He’d be out of the lineup again on Wednesday. More concerningly, it was reported that he needed a cortisone injection in his right elbow. That was back on Monday, and he hasn’t played since.
“As we came home … we were looking for a window to do that, to get him over the hump,” interim manager Chad Tracy said. “Nothing different happened there, just the timing of the cortisone injection, you had to give him those days.”
The hope is that between the injection and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off, Rutschman will be able to get back into the lineup more consistently. That way, he could avoid another stint on the IL.
Rutschman has been dealing with the elbow issue since the Miami Marlins series, which was about two weeks ago now. Because of that, he’s been very limited. In fact, he’s only played in seven of 16 games for Boston.
“I think we should be in a good spot. The whole thought around that was, if we got to a point we were going to do that, then we time it right to get through the end of the season … It was threading a needle there,” Tracy said.
“The hope is that with something like this that you’re going to get a pretty significant amount of relief. That paired with the amount of off days that we have coming up — certainly [Rutschman] is not going to catch every game, but if we get to a spot where it feels really, really good, hopefully you’re going to be using him quite a bit. So we’ll see.”
Adley Rutschman Was Injured When the Boston Red Sox Traded for Him
By most accounts, the Boston Red Sox sent a ransom to the Baltimore Orioles for Adley Rutschman. Five total players went to Baltimore, including Carlos Narvaez and four prospects.
What was even more surprising about the haul was that Rutschman was on the IL when the Red Sox traded for him. The Red Sox were confident in Rutschman’s medicals, though, and went through with the deal.
Notably, Rutschman wasn’t dealing with an elbow issue at the time. That only popped up when he was with the Red Sox. Instead, it was a left wrist inflammation that had him on the IL since July 20th.
Injuries, in general, have been an issue for Rutschman this season. He’s been on the IL three times. That includes a hamstring issue and a concussion before the wrist inflammation. So, he’d obviously like to avoid an IL stint when his new team is in the playoff hunt.
How the Red Sox Have Replaced Rutschman
Since the Red Sox sent Carlos Narvaez to Baltimore in the Adley Rutschman trade, they were left with one other catcher on the roster. That’s Connor Wong, and he’s largely been filling in with more playing time.
In 72 games this season, Wong is hitting .234 with a .659 OPS. However, he only has one hit in his last four games, and Wong is in just the 6th percentile for Fielding Run Value, per Baseball Savant.
Amid those struggles, the Red Sox started Mickey Gasper at catcher on Wednesday. Gasper is a catcher by trade, though not a great defensive one, and he does have some positional versatility. On top of that, he’s been crushing the ball at the plate over the past few weeks.
Ultimately, the Red Sox want Rutschman behind the plate. For now, though, it’s more important to make sure he’s healthy for the playoffs.
Red Sox Injury Update: Latest on Banged Up Catcher Adley Rutschman