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Rutschman

It appears to be a routine day off against Rays LHP Ian Seymour. Connor Wong will get the start at catcher after Rutschman played the last six games in a row.

He missed two games this time, as compared to three last week, and seems likely to continue to miss games here or there going forward ahead of the postseason. Rutschman is a tough start in weekly leagues right now. Fire him up in daily transactions leagues if you can against RHP Seth Lugo.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters they’re anticipating Rutschman returning for Friday’s series opener against the Royals. He’s out of the lineup for the second straight game as he continues to deal with a hyperextended elbow. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day heading into the final two weeks of the season.

It’s unclear at the moment whether this is the elbow again or something else. Rather than use Connor Wong again, the Red Sox have Mickey Gasper catching tonight for the first time since June 22.

Rutschman takes a seat, along with Mickey Gasper and Jarren Duran with the Red Sox rolling out a righty-heavy lineup against Angels southpaw Reid Detmers. It’ll be lefty-mashers Jahmai Jones and Andruw Monasterio getting into the lineup with Connor Wong behind the plate. The 28-year-old backstop has been playing through a lingering elbow issue since early September, but it hasn’t forced him to miss too much time.

It would have been hard to imagine the Orioles parting with either Rodriguez or Rutschman two years ago. Now they’re facing each other with neither wearing an O’s uniform. Rutschman got the better of the matchup today, sending a liner 371 feet down the right field line at Fenway. Statcast said it was a homer in only two ballparks, not because of distance but because it would have curved foul elsewhere. Rutschman now has four homers in 19 games for the Red Sox and 12 in 86 games overall.

It doesn’t appear to be injury-related, but it’s worth noting that Rutschman missed three games earlier this week with a hyperextended elbow that he’ll need to manage for the remainder of the season. The switch-hitting backstop crushed two homers during Thursday’s win over his former club and was also behind the plate on Friday night.

Rutschman hit 377- and 389-foot homers off Brandon Young for his second and third homers in 16 games with the Red Sox. It was his fifth career two-homer game. The last of those came against the Red Sox in an Orioles’ win back in April.

He had missed the last three games due to his hyperextended elbow. It seems likely that he will be managed pretty heavily down the stretch while dealing with the issue, but he can be started in leagues with daily transactions. Weekly leaguers could have more difficult choices ahead if Rutschman remains active but likely to miss time.

We know that Rutschman is dealing with a hyperextended elbow, and Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said he will likely have to battle through that injury all season. Given how much the Red Sox traded away for Rutschman, this is not an ideal situation, but Tracy did reveal that the MRI showed swelling and bruising but no structural issues. Connor Wong will get yet another start behind the dish with Mickey Gasper at first base, but the Red Sox may want to see if Gasper can catch a few games given how well he’s swinging the bat.