The Red Sox’s new-look roster has already hit a snag, and it involves one of the biggest names they landed ahead of the 2026 MLB trade deadline.
Adley Rutschman is still being managed carefully after elbow trouble flared up last week, and Boston interim manager Chad Tracy said Tuesday that the issue is not fully behind him. Rutschman missed two games during the series against the Miami Marlins, with Tracy describing the problem at the time as “a little irritation” after an aggressive swing on Monday, Aug.
- He sat out the next two games, then returned after Boston’s day off for the start of the four-game set against the New York Yankees.
Rutschman went 0-for-4 in that opener, then played in three of the four games against New York before being held out again Monday against the Seattle Mariners. That first absence didn’t draw much attention, especially with Rutschman scuffling at the plate and having played Sunday.
The update Tracy gave on Tuesday, though, made the situation sound more delicate. Speaking on WEEI, he said Rutschman would miss a second straight day and explained that the hyperextended elbow is still something Boston has to manage.
“Adley's dealing with some stuff with that elbow,” Tracy said. “I said that yesterday.
We're not completely out of the woods. Like we're still monitoring and trying to give him appropriate time to make sure that thing's okay.
It's probably going to be something we deal with off and on through the year. They're looking for different avenues to alleviate that.
We have to be mindful of that. ... There will be days he's not in there.”
That doesn’t mean Boston expects Rutschman to be shelved every day. He is not on the Injured List, and there’s been no sign the club is preparing to put him there anytime soon.
Still, it’s another hit for a Red Sox team that has been dealing with a steady stream of injury issues. Roman Anthony and Trevor Story are back, but Rutschman is now working through the elbow problem, while Willson Contreras and Tyron Guerrero are on the Injured List.
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