Red Sox place Jackie Bradley, Jr. on 10-day disabled list with knee sprain
By Sean Penney
The Boston Red Sox will place center fielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained right knee suffered in Saturday’s game.
The bad news keeps pouring in for a Boston Red Sox team that seems to lose a new player each day. Hey, at least it’s not due to the flu this time.
In the wake of Monday’s gut-wrenching loss in a pitcher’s duel between Chris Sale and Justin Verlander, the team announced that outfielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. would be placed on the 10-day disabled list with a sprained right knee.
Bradley collapsed in a heap rounding first base in the ninth inning of Saturday’s game in Detroit when his knee buckled. A non-contact injury like this sparks fear of the worst case scenario, yet the team sounded optimistic once they were given the chance to evaluate him.
Bradley was sent for an MRI, the results of which were believed as recently as yesterday to be not serious enough to warrant a stint on the DL.
So in the span of about 24 hours we went from this…
Just spoke to Dave Dombrowski who said nothing on Bradley's MRI inducted the disabled list was needed.
— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) April 9, 2017
To this….
Jackie Bradley Jr. will go on the DL.
— Brian MacPherson (@brianmacp) April 10, 2017
Which had Red Sox Nation reacting like this….
Jackie Bradley went from his knee being fine aside from a bit of swelling to being put on the DL within about a 24 hour span.#RedSox pic.twitter.com/V8wRGkPp0f
— Sean Penney (@spenney83) April 10, 2017
The injury isn’t expected the sideline Bradley for long, so the hope is that he’ll be ready to return as soon as he’s eligible. Maybe he doesn’t even need the full 10 days, but with the Red Sox working with a depleted lineup in recent days they could use some reinforcements.
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Bradley is off to a solid start this season, hitting .286/.353/.429 in four games. As much as he’s capable of contributing at the plate, it’s his elite defensive skills in center filed that the Red Sox will miss most.
Boston can slide Andrew Benintendi over to center field easily enough, which leaves some combination of Chris Young, Brock Holt and Steve Selsky to take over in left. Using Young against lefties, Holt against right-handers and keeping Selsky on the bench as an insurance policy seems to be a viable strategy, although they may be forced to use two of the three until Hanley Ramirez recovers from the flu.
The only other roster move the Red Sox have announced thus far is that they’ve optioned Deven Marrero to Pawtucket, clearing a path for Xander Bogaerts to be activated from bereavement leave. Another move will need to be made to fill the spot vacated by Bradley, although activating Drew Pomeranz would seem to be the logical choice given the expectation that he’ll start Tuesday’s game back at Fenway against the Baltimore Orioles.
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It’s been a rough start to the season for the Red Sox from a health perspective, but at least the news on Bradley isn’t as devastating as it could have been. With a backdated DL stint he could return in just over a week, by which time the Red Sox will hopefully have their full Opening Day lineup back in order.