ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Three Red Sox pitchers, with various ailments at various stages of rehab, threw Tuesday afternoon, resulting in encouraging news for the club.
"All the throwing that went on today,'' said manager John Farrell, "was very positive. It was a very good work day in all three cases.''
Eduardo Rodriguez tossed 59 pitches in a simulated game arranged to test his strained left hamstring.
"He had no restrictions to his delivery,'' Farrell said. "He threw the ball with game-like intensity. That was a positive. We'll check and see how he is (Wednesday) before we make any kind of announcement how he'll slot back in (to the rotation). Today was a very good day for Eduardo.''
The plan is to have the lefty throw another bullpen Thursday morning, before the final game of the road trip.
"But given the history of things,'' cautioned Farrell, "we're going to take this one work day at a time. But it looks like we're making solid progress at this point.''
Rodriguez Saturday pulled himself out of a scheduled start for Sunday, insisting that he didn't yet have confidence in his hamstring, which he had strained last week in Baltimore.
Boston Red Sox
"I was feeling a lot better,'' Rodriguez said. "For those three innings, I didn't feel nothing (with the hamstring) so I feel good. I was throwing the pitches and I don't feel nothing. I just have to wait for the next bullpen and see what decision they make about my next start.''
Rodriguez allowed that he was thinking about the hamstring in his first inning, but without any discomfort there, was able to pitch the final two frames without giving it any thought.
"I was just a little bit careful in that first inning,'' he said. "But after that it was normal.''
Even though the Red Sox seemed miffed with decision to remove himself from Sunday's start on 19 hours notice, Rodriguez doesn't regret making it.
"If I don't (make that decision),'' he said, "it was going to be ugly. It's better to miss one start (instead) of trying to be a man and get something wrong and be out for the rest of the season.''
Steven Wright, who has missed his last two starts after jamming his shoulder as a pinch-runner earlier this month, threw a 60-pitch bullpen and is "on tap'' to start Friday against Kansas City.
"Obviously, we'll see how tomorrow goes,'' Wright said. "But today, to get through that, it's big. (The shoulder) is still a little achy, but I get out on the mound, it doesn't really bother me. I think it's just something from not throwing consistently like I have been.
"It's one of those things you have to get through, kind of like at the beginning of spring training. But I don't think it will take me as long (to build back arm strength) because I've been throwing (all along).''
The biggest surprise of the afternoon was Koji Uehara, who has been out a month with a strained pec muscle.
"He threw with much more intensity than anticipated,'' reported Farrell. "It was a very positive day for Koji. Right now, our tentative plan is to have him throw bullpens every third day and we'll go bullpen-to-bullpen before determining what (comes next). Roughly speaking, three bullpens is the tentative plan. Where we are after that third one, we'll re-assess at that point.
"He finished with, I don't want to say it was 'game-like' intensity, but it was much more than anticipated. That followed 200-feet of long toss.