For a Red Sox season that has already been loaded with bad injury news, Friday brought a much-needed break.
Connelly Early’s elbow issue, which had started to spook the fan base after he was sent for a second opinion, does not appear to be anything more serious than the club first hoped. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reported that Early’s visit with Dr. Keith Meister “confirmed the diagnosis of posterior elbow inflammation/irritation” and nothing beyond that.
“Connelly Early’s visit to Dr. Keith Meister confirmed the diagnosis of posterior elbow inflammation/irritation and nothing more serious, per source,” Cotillo wrote.
“With elbows, always a level of concern. But that’s good news for Early and the Red Sox.”
That second opinion mattered because Meister’s clinical focus includes “arthroscopy and reconstruction of the shoulder, elbow, and knee,” which naturally raised eyebrows when the Red Sox said Early would see him. The worry was that the injury might be worse than the original diagnosis of “left elbow inflammation.”
Instead, the update matched what Boston interim manager Chad Tracy had already described earlier in the week. When the team put Early on the Injured List, Tracy said the pitcher “fought” against the move, but the Red Sox wanted to give him time to rest and get back to where he was at. Tracy also said Early was already starting to feel better at that point.
On July 1, Tracy called the posterior elbow inflammation “good news” compared with what it could have been. Early himself said on June 30 that he was “not too concerned” about the injury.
The timeline still points to a return that is at least close. Early went on the 15-Day Injured List on July 1, which means the earliest he can be activated is July 17.
That date lines up with a busy stretch for Boston. The Red Sox have three more games before the All-Star break, then come back with a doubleheader on July 17 against the Tampa Bay Rays. After that, they’ll play the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blue Jays in three-game series.
For now, the main takeaway is simple: the Red Sox got the kind of elbow update they were hoping for. Early’s injury is still worth monitoring, but it’s not the scary news that had been hanging over the situation.
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