Red Sox Key Starter Could Be Back Sooner Than Expected

The Red Sox could get a key piece back...

May 22, 2018; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; A general view of Boston Red Sox hats and gloves laying in the dugout at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-Imagn Images | Kim Klement-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox’s catcher position is thin right now but it sounds like a key piece is progressing.

Connor Wong suffered a fracture in the pinky area of his left hand while facing the Toronto Blue Jays on April 7th. He was hit on the hand by George Springer’s bat and has been out since.

While this is the case, MassLive.com's Sean McAdam shared the latest update on him and it sounds like he’s making progress and could be back very soon.

"Finally, catcher Connor Wong (fractured pinky) is making good progress," McAdam said. "'(He hit) off the tee today,' (Manager Alex Cora said). 'He’s done some defensive work, but not actually caught bullpens or a machine. I gave him kind of a timeline (to return) and he was like, ‘What? That’s too late.’ I said, ‘OK, you’re feeling good, huh?’ I think they’re going to add stuff defensively in the upcoming days.

"'He feels like defensively, he’s not going to have trouble. If that happens, (get) a couple of at-bats (on a rehab assignment), go down there, do your thing and join us as soon as possible.' Cora said he estimated that Wong could be back with the parent club in two and a half weeks, but Wong thinks he can beat that projection."

Right now, the Red Sox are rolling with Carlos Narváez and Blake Sabol at catcher. Narváez has gotten the vast majority of the time since Wong went down. It sounds like Wong should be back very soon, though.

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