Adley Rutschman will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Worcester on Saturday, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy announced on Friday night.
“Adley is going to play tomorrow,” Tracy said. “He’s going to catch five innings and get 2-3 at bats tomorrow in Worcester.”
Rutschman has been on the 10-day injured list with left wrist inflammation since July 20, before he was dealt to the Red Sox ahead of Monday’s trade deadline. The three-time All-Star catcher has been trending in the right direction ever since and prior to Friday’s game Tracy said “it’s possible” Rutschman could start a rehab assignment this weekend.
After continuing to show progress throughout the day, Rutschman is now cleared to make his organizational debut.
Prior to his injury Rutschman was in the midst of a bounce back season in which he was batting .251 with eight home runs, 47 RBI, a .764 OPS and 1.9 Wins Above Replacement. Saturday will start at 20-day clock by which point he’d have to either be activated or shut down, but barring any setbacks he could return to the big leagues sooner than that.
Is Monday’s series opener in Toronto in play?
“I have no idea,” Tracy said. “Being that it’s five innings right now maybe not but we’ll talk through, it’s his first game back and he’s catching five innings so I’m sure they’re going to want to build him up a little bit so I’m not going to put the cart before the horse.”
