Drew Pomeranz to be activated and start on Tuesday

The Red Sox are back and that means reporters are back with the team. That, in turn, means we get some news! We got some of that Friday evening a couple hours before first pitch as Alex Cora gave some updates on injuries around the roster. The biggest bit of news is that Drew Pomeranz is going to be activated and put in the rotation for Tuesday’s game in Baltimore. He’ll replace Hector Velazquez in the rotation. Cora also provided updates on Steven Wright and Rafael Devers.

So, the Red Sox are going to try again with Pomeranz, who has been positively dreadful when on the mound this year. Clearly he’s been dogged by some health issue as his velocity was way down early in the season. The reports from his minor-league rehab stints haven’t been super encouraging either. However, he did have a strong outing his last time out and Alex Cora insists that his velocity is climbing. I’m not at all confident in the lefty at this point, but I suppose it makes sense that the Red Sox would want to see him in action at the major-league level before deciding their trade plans. The good news here is him facing an Orioles lineup sans Manny Machado. That’s about the best way he could be eased in.

As for Wright, you see from Abraham’s tweet that the news is not good. The knuckleballer had been pitching extremely well (for the most part) before getting hurt, and his loss is a blow to the team. Eduardo Rodriguez going down is obviously the bigger deal, but Wright hurt’s the teams’ depth significantly. What I’m taking from this update is that they really can’t assume they’ll get anything from him the rest of the year. That’s not to say he won’t come back, but it doesn’t appear they know when a return could be, and given his history there’s no guarantee his knee will hold up whenever he does return.

Finally, we have a big of good news for Rafael Devers. When the third baseman hit the disabled list before the All-Star break, it was always assumed that it was a short-term thing. Of course, those can turn into longer-term issues very quickly. There is nothing official yet as the team wants to see him work out, but Devers should be back for the second game of this series in Detroit.