The bad news is Smith will start the season on the disabled list. The good news is it is a strained flexor which might keep him out only a month versus a year out if it had been an elbow ligament strain
The Boston Red Sox were likely hoping for better news when their projected seventh inning pitcher Carson Smith went down yesterday with tightness in his right arm. Before the game, he said it was better but the arm did not feel right. Boston Globe writer Pete Abraham tweeted about how Smith was feeling before the game.
Carson Smith just left the #RedSox clubhouse to go see a doctor. Says his arm feels better but not normal.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) March 22, 2016
This was far from two thumbs up, so fans had to be expecting the news that came down from manager John Farrell after the game.
Reliever Carson Smith will start his season on the DL with a strained right flexor muscle. https://t.co/oAFNqxhAay pic.twitter.com/5wxCyeuYcB
— NESN (@NESN) March 22, 2016
Farrell was clear that the DL stint was intended to give Smith time to recover and build strength back up in the arm.
"“We have to let it calm down,” said manager John Farrell after today’s 3-0 loss to the Marlins. “There’s no throwing schedule in place yet. We have to get a few days of treatment just to see how he comes through that. But no timeline on putting a ball back in his hand.”"
Next: Red Sox get one hit, lose to Marlins, 3-0
Though Smith will be going to the disabled list with a strained flexor muscle, there was no damage to the ulnar collateral ligament nearby which has to be considered good news. This could be just a month downtime, but if it was that ligament, Tommy John surgery comes into the discussion which means a year on the shelf. Yankees reliever Andrew Miller was out for a month last year with a similar injury.
Stay tuned for further analysis of this development in upcoming days at your source for Red Sox news and analysis BoSoxInjection.com