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Red Sox’ Roman Anthony gives injury update after cortisone shot, big rehab step Friday
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- Red Sox’ Roman Anthony gives injury update after cortisone shot, big rehab step Friday
ATLANTA — Friday was the first day Roman Anthony was eligible to come off the injured list and re-join the Red Sox lineup . Instead, he took another small step forward on what has been a longer-than-expected road back.
Anthony was out of the splint he has been wearing on his injured right hand and played catch before Boston ’s game against the Braves at Truist Park. As part of his rehab from a sprained ligament under his right ring finger suffered during an at-bat in Detroit on May 4 , Anthony had a cortisone shot, interim manager Chad Tracy said. The removal of the splint coincided with the time needed for the shot to run its course.
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“I’m out of the brace and got to do baseball activity today,” said Anthony. “So, positive signs. I’m feeling good.”
Anthony has still not swung a bat since suffering the injury. The biggest remaining hurdle involves the strength of his grip while hitting, which to this point has been an issue. The Red Sox are hopeful Anthony can swing without pain at some point soon. After he clears that step, it likely won’t be long before he’s in the lineup.
“He’s feeling a lot better, which is good news for us,” Tracy said. “So then we progress along. Hopefully — depending on how he responds to all this and maybe by the end of our time here (in Atlanta) — we can get him swinging a bat. We’ll see how it goes and how he responds to what he’s doing."
Added Anthony: “Based on the way I felt throwing today, hoping to get into that very soon. I don’t have a timeline on what they want from me or the plan. All I know is that the first step was getting out there and that the throwing kind of leads into the hitting.”
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Neither Anthony nor Tracy would predict a return date for Anthony but there’s a feeling like he could progress quickly now that he’s back to baseball activities. Having already missed nine games, the 22-year-old is itching to get back.
“Going on the IL sucks at any point in time,” Anthony said. “I never want to do that. Sitting around and watching baseball games is not what I want to do. I want to get out there tomorrow if it were up to me, but going to look at being out there whenever it’s ready.”
Tracy didn’t close the door on Anthony playing before the end of Boston’s six-game road trip to Atlanta and Kansas City, which starts Friday and ends Wednesday night . Anthony joked that he learned his lesson when it comes to projecting timetables.
“I don’t want to say yes or no because I know what that leads to,” he said.
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Despite not being ready yet, Anthony said he hasn’t suffered any setbacks with his hand.
“I didn’t really know where I was going to be come today,” he said. “I don’t think it went badly in terms of what I was feeling and how it’s progressed over the last few days. I think I’m in a very good spot and hopeful to be back in there as soon as possible.”
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