Drew Pomeranz leaves his spring debut early with apparent injury

As exciting as spring training is for the mere fact that we get to enjoy some baseball again, it can also be just as nerve-wracking. Teams have key players participating in games that are ultimately meaningless, because they obviously have to get ready for the season. Essentially we spend the entire month of March hoping to see our favorite team get through the spring without injury. The Red Sox got a bit of a scare on Friday, though, with Drew Pomeranz leaving with an apparent injury. The lefty got through one clean inning, but left with a trainer in the second.

Right now, they are calling the injury “forearm tightness” and the plan is for him to be re-evaluated on Saturday. The good news is that he didn’t show any extreme discomfort that could be gleamed from video. Furthermore, he has spoken with reporters and has indicated that he is not overly worried about it. He told the Boston Herald’s Michael Silverman that he’s “pretty sure this is nothing” and that his level of concern is “pretty low.”

Of course, the tests tomorrow will be the key. While Pomeranz not being worried right now is a good sign, forearm injuries can lead to major elbow issues, which is something we saw with David Price last spring. It also doesn’t help that Pomeranz has had some durability issues in the past, though he’s made at least 30 starts in each of the last two seasons.

It goes without saying that the Red Sox could really use a healthy Pomeranz in their rotation for this season. It is looking like it will be incredibly competitive at the top of the American League, and with Chris Sale, David Price and Pomeranz Boston is going to lean pretty heavily on the top of their pitching staff. Although Pomeranz doesn’t get the headlines of the other two and doesn’t share their ceiling, he’s been remarkably consistent over the last two seasons and was a major factor in their winning the division last season. If this injury is worse than Pomeranz thinks for now, Boston’s pitching depth will be tested right from the jump. Both Steven Wright and Eduardo Rodriguez are already projected to miss the start of the year, so any extended absence from Pomeranz would mean starting two of their depth options to open 2018. We haven’t even mentioned the questions with Price, either, as he tries to come back from an injury-riddled 2017. Ugh. Ban pitching.

We’ll of course keep you posted on any developments in this story.