Red Sox Rumors: Trevor Story rehab, Mets trade target, looming return

Red Sox Rumors: John Schreiber return looming and much-needed

Injuries have been a dirty word for the Boston Red Sox pitching staff this season. Whether it’s been the ongoing Chris Sale saga, Garrett Whitlock’s struggle to stay healthy, Tanner Houck’s freak injury from a comebacker to the face, or a number of other instances, things have not gone particularly well for the club in terms of keeping their arms healthy.

Among the starters who have been unable to stay on the field, though, the Red Sox have also direly missed John Schreiber, who has been on the IL since mid-May with a teres major strain.

In 18 appearances prior to the injury, though, Schreiber had continued to establish himself as a dominant force that Boston needed direly out of the bullpen, going 17.0 innings with a 2.12 ERA and 1.29 WHIP. Chris Martin and Kenley Jansen have held up the back end of the bullpen in his absence, but the Red Sox would love to deepen their staff of relievers.

And soon, they’ll be able to. As reported by Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, Schreiber took the last step in his rehab on Thursday after appearing in back-to-back games with Double-A Portland, posting back-to-back perfect outings and completing an extremely strong return to the mound, albeit in the minors, as he gets healthy.

Cotillo also reported that, after those back-to-back appearances, manager Alex Cora said that Schreiber will come off the IL and rejoin the team either Sunday against the Mets or Tuesday at Fenway Park to start a series with the Atlanta Braves.

Getting Schreiber back is massive in every sense at this point of the season. With the Red Sox fighting for a wild card spot in the American League, the worrisome bullpen depth has been looming large. But the now imminent return of Schreiber coupled with a focus at the trade deadline could alleviate any concerns in a huge way.