Eduardo Rodriguez suffered “serious damage” to his ankle

Well, we got some more news about the injury Eduardo Rodriguez suffered on Saturday, and it’s not good. Not that it’s entirely unexpected, but it’s certainly not what the Red Sox need right now. After Sunday’s victory over the Blue Jays, Alex Cora announced that the lefty suffered “serious damage” to his ankle. The good news is he won’t need surgery, but he’s going to be in a boot for at least two weeks.

If you missed the game, the injury was a fluke occurrence with some bad luck. On a ground ball to first base, Blake Swihart made a nice stop in the hole but had to rush his throw to the bag after a slight bobble. His throw to Rodriguez was off the mark, and the Red Sox pitcher ran into the bag and collided with Lourdes Gurriel, who had slid into first base. Rodriguez’ foot caught Gurriel in the head, and his right ankle buckled upon landing. It didn’t look good, and apparently the optics matched the result.

We’ll have more on how the Red Sox should react to this injury in the next day or two, but it’s clearly a big deal. The team is already without Drew Pomeranz and Steven Wright, and David Price and Rick Porcello have been inconsistent of late. Pomeranz is rehabbing right now, but he looked awful when he was healthy and the rehab outings to date don’t inspire much confidence. Wright, meanwhile, was mostly very good when healthy and in the rotation, but it’s not clear when he could return from his injury. The team has depth options, but they aren’t anything too awe-inspiring.

As for how long Rodriguez will be out, that is unclear. The team is apparently “optimistic” that he will return before the end of the season, but that phrasing is always concerning. That they can’t put a more specific timeline on things is worrisome. Again, this is not what the team needed right now.