Yoan Moncada’s return from back soreness doesn’t seem like it will happen until after the All-Star break.
The third baseman, who landed on the 10-day injured list last Thursday, is only playing light catch and isn’t hitting yet, so expect Jake Burger to have an extended run at the hot corner.
“It could be 10 days, it could be two weeks. I don’t have an answer,” manager Pedro Grifol said when asked about a timeline for Moncada.
Two more weeks would take him to July 5 with five games left before the break. At that point it would make sense to allow for more time. In any event, the timeline for any back problem is iffy.
“The back is weird,” said Grifol, who knows about back problems from experience. “I guess it will let you know when it feels good and then you can take the next step.”
Moncada, 28, is batting .232/.279/.370 with three homers, 13 RBI and 17 runs in 38 games. He worked extra hard in the offseason preparing for the World Baseball Classic and made the WBC all-tournament team while playing for Cuba before experiencing back issues late in spring training.
Griofol said Moncada has been doing “a ton of exercises.”
“He comes in here, [the training staff will] write his program up, if he feels good they’ll add something else,” Grifol said. “It’s just the way the back is.”
Moncada was on the IL from April 11 to May 12 with the same issue.
Entering Thursday, Burger was 5-for-28 with three homers since taking over full-time duty at third base. He has a .235/.286/.563 hitting line with 16 homers and an .849 OPS in 199 plate appearances.
Grandal scratched
Catcher Yasmani Grandal was a late scratch from the lineup with right knee soreness. Limited by injuries to 99 games last season, Grandal played in 60 of the team’s first 75 games. Seby Zavala got the start.
Crochet update
Left-hander Garrett Crochet, who went on the 15-day IL Tuesday, received a cortisone shot in his sore left shoulder. He expects to be out two to three weeks.
“Some soreness flared up, kind of natural but at this stage coming off Tommy John [surgery] I didn’t want to press anything,” Crochet said. “With the velo being down in my last outing Thursday, I wasn’t effective.”
Crochet said the setback is “tough” but he’s not too concerned.
“The cortisone shot improved the strength, which led us to believe it was just fatigue and inflammation in the shoulder,” he said.
TA sits again
Tim Anderson, who pinch hit in the Sox’ 7-6 win on Tuesday, might be ready to start Friday after the off day Thursday, Grifol said.
Anderson was pulled from a game Saturday in Seattle with a sore right shoulder. Going on the IL was not considered.
“We didn’t think it was going to take 15 days and we also have value for him to do other things, like pinch hit, pinch run,” Grifol said. “In an emergency we can probably use him, even though we don’t want to. But an IL was just too long a period.”
This and that
Elvis Andrus started at shortstop and played his 2,000th career game.
† Right-hander Touki Toussaint, claimed off waivers from the Guardians on Monday, was added to the active roster. Right-hander Nick Padilla was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. Toussaint, 2-1 with a 4.06 ERA for Triple-A Columbus, is a possibility to fill Mike Clevinger’s spot in the rotation Sunday.
