Red Sox
Abreu still has a ways to go before returning, but made some progress on Friday and Saturday according to Cora.
The Red Sox will seemingly still be without one of their starting outfielders for the foreseeable future.
Boston manager Alex Cora provided a small update on Abreu’s status on Saturday, and although it was positive, he noted that the outfielder has a ways to go before he can return to the lineup.
“He ran yesterday, he ran today, I just texted him,” Cora said. “He feels OK. It wasn’t at full speed but he felt better than the last time he tried. It’s the start of the progression. I don’t know as far as timetable, but it’s good news.”
Abreu is dealing with a calf strain he suffered in the middle of August. Prior to his injury, the right fielder was batting .253 and had 22 home runs — which still led the Red Sox until Trevor Story hit his 23rd of the year on Sept. 1. The 2024 Gold Glover was one of Boston’s best players, both at the plate and defensively, before he went down.
As the season winds down, the water is murky in terms of Abreu’s availability down the stretch. With only 19 games left in the regular season, there aren’t many chances for Abreu to get into action prior to the postseason. And without clarity on the severity of his strain, predicting a timeline would be near impossible.
According to Boston Sports Medicine, a mild calf strain can heal in one to three weeks, but a moderate strain requires a three to six week recovery time, and it can get even longer than that. Abreu is nearing the three-week mark since suffering the injury, signaling his injury might not be mild.
Boston lost Roman Anthony to injury shortly after, and his status for the postseason remains questionable as well. So Abreu’s unclear timetable means the Red Sox will be thin in the outfield for the time being. Jarren Duran, Ceddanne Rafaela, and Nate Eaton have made up the outfield of late, and Masataka Yoshida and Rob Refsnyder can mix in as well.
Boston benefits from having a deep outfield contingent, but a prolonged absence of one of their best hitters isn’t ideal as the postseason nears. Come October, the Red Sox will need to be as close to full strength as possible if they do reach the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
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