It appears reinforcements are on the way for the Boston Red Sox, who have received yet another promising update on rehabbing outfielder Roman Anthony.
Ahead of Tuesday's game against the Toronto Blue Jays where Adley Rutschman will make his Red Sox debut, manager Chad Tracy revealed that Anthony has entered a new phase of his hitting progression, now taking batting practice against the high-velocity Trajekt machine.
This machine is designed to simulate a big-league at-bat and is expected to be the box that needs to be checked for Anthony to begin a rehab assignment and face live pitching. Speaking about this possibility, Tracy said that he is "getting closer" to going on a rehab assignment.
Since beginning his hitting progression on July 30 when he began swinging a bat for the first time in months, Anthony has moved relatively quickly. He started with hitting off of a tee and facing flips before advancing to batting practice a week later.
Originally, the Red Sox said that the 22-year-old would not resume swinging until his hand was completely pain free after a setback in late-May. When asked about this, Tracy has defaulted to saying that Anthony feels good, and considering the progress he continues to make it seems that the hand is nearly back to full health.
The most important step now will be regaining the timing and feel necessary to face major league pitching. With Anthony now sidelined for over three months, a lengthy rehab stint in the minor leagues will be in order. It is reasonable to assume that the Red Sox will opt to use the full 20 days allotted to a position player to get him feeling right before bringing him back up to the big-league roster.
The Triple-A Worcester Red Sox, who just saw Adley Rutschman work quickly through a two-game rehab assignment, could see both Anthony and Trevor Story within the next couple of weeks with their returns to Boston possible by the end of August.
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