HOUSTON — Red Sox manager John Farrell does not think Eduardo Nunez would be in a better position physically now had the Sox decided not to bring him into game action in the regular season, on Sept. 25, with a little less than a week to go before the postseason.
The reason the Sox did bring him back then, Farrell said, was because they wanted Nunez around to try to lock up the American League East.
- MORE RED SOX: Chris Sale unlikely if there's a Game 4; Red Sox consider how to avoid future fatigue for him
“The thinking was that we were still working towards clinching a division,” Farrell said Friday. “He had gone through every available means of rehab, test, testing him in simulated games, trying to get him back in the lineup in advance of the postseason. So, no, no regrets. And I recognize where Nunie’s comments where he felt like he did what he could do to get back in the lineup as soon as possible. So to say that that one game, knowing that there was a re-aggravation, if there are 10 additional days [of rest] prior to yesterday, I don’t know if the outcome is any different.”
Nunez’s right knee is to be evaluated further with an MRI in Boston. He’s off the roster, and his replacement, Chris Young, started at DH on Friday against lefty Dallas Keuchel.
Either way, Farrell does not expect Nunez will be back this postseason. Nunez would be eligible to return to the roster in the World Series, but even if the Sox make it, he probably wouldn’t be ready to go.
“He needs time,” Farrell said. “This thing needs to heal.”