Red Sox: Options to fill in the rotation for injured Steven Wright
By Sean Penney
The Boston Red Sox will need to call up a starting pitcher to fill in for Steven Wright, who landed on the disabled list with a knee injury.
Remember when the Boston Red Sox had more starting pitchers than they knew what to do with? Those were the days.
We’re only about a month into the season and Boston’s rotation depth is already being tested. David Price has yet to make a start this season and only recently started facing live batters as he continues to work his way back from elbow soreness. Now another starter will join Price on the shelf.
The Red Sox placed knuckleball pitcher Steven Wright on the 10-day disabled list on Monday with a knee sprain. Manager John Farrell revealed that Wright has dealt with the ailment off and on since spring training, but his knee only recently worsened to the extent that the team felt the need to shut him down.
Replacing an All-Star pitcher is a difficult hurdle for any team to overcome, although the Red Sox aren’t actually losing that version of Wright from last season. We haven’t seen that guy since he hurt his shoulder diving back to second base when his manager made the bone-headed blunder of using Wright as a pinch-runner. Instead, Boston only needs to worry about finding a temporary replacement for a pitcher that is 1-3 with a brutal 8.25 ERA this season.
Shouldn’t be too difficult to find someone that can provide an improvement over those numbers. Perhaps the knee has been bothering him all along, which would help explain his dismal performance. Or he could be struggling to regain his previous form after a long layoff following the shoulder injury last August. Either way, Wright needs some time off to get himself right.
In the meantime, the Red Sox need someone to start on Thursday when Wright was scheduled to take the mound. Let’s take a look at some of the options they could turn to.