FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Opening Day was always an arbitrary deadline for Carl Crawford, but Monday, it seemed more remote than ever after the outfielder underwent an exam on his surgically-repaired left wrist.
Dr. Donald Sheridan, who performed surgery on the wrist in January, traveled here and examined Crawford and recommended that he do no baseball activity for the next "five to seven days,'' according to manager Bobby Valentine.
The shutdown comes almost a week after Crawford experienced some soreness and inflammation in the wrist after some swings in the batting cage and bunting drills.
"As we said from the get-go,'' said Valentine, "it's not about the calendar. He'll be ready when he's ready. I think with Carl, he loves to do a lot of stuff and it's probably not in his best interest at this time to overdo anything.
"The Opening Day thing is probably not realistic. Maybe, but probably not.''
With Crawford sidelined for approximately another week and needing another week subsequent to that to test the wrist in live batting practice, he may not be ready for Grapefruit League play until the Red Sox' final full week in Florida, giving him little time to play under game conditions before the team's scheduled opener April 5 in Detroit.
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