Mike Lowell was initially hoping to make his spring training debut tomorrow, but now it sounds like he won’t play until Monday at the earliest. Here’s manager Terry Francona:
We’re probably shooting more for Monday with Mikey Lowell. That’s probably a realistic target. I don’t know if it will happen.
Normally teams have every reason to be very cautious with injured players early in camp, but in the Red Sox’s case they probably want Lowell in the lineup as soon as possible to showcase him for a potential trade. Boston had a deal worked out to send Lowell and $9 million to Texas for Max Ramirez, but the trade was nixed because of thumb surgery. If his thumb and hip look healthy and Lowell shows decent mobility at third base they should be able to find a taker for him again, although the Rangers are seemingly out of the mix after signing Vladimir Guerrero.
