Patrick Sandoval’s 656-Day Wait Ends as Red Sox Rehab Begins

When the Boston Red Sox signed Patrick Sandoval ahead of the 2025 Major League Baseball season, they knew it would be at least a little bit before he would return to the mound.

Sandoval 16 starts with the Los Angeles Angels in 2024 and had a 5.08 ERA across 79 2/3 innings pitched. His season was cut short, though. Sandoval's final appearance of the 2024 season came on June 21, 2024 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. That day, he went 2 1/3 shutout innings while striking out one batter. Unfortunately, his season would end there and he required Tommy John surgery.

He wasn't able to make a return to the mound in 2025 after signing with Boston. Sandoval signed a two-year, $18.25 million deal with the club with the expectation that he would have a bigger role in 2026 than he had in 2025, anyway. He was owed just $5.5 million in 2025 in comparison to $12.75 million in 2026. He's been working his way back ever since. He faced live hitters for the first time since his injury in February. On Wednesday, he took another step. He began a minor league rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester and went 3 1/3 innings and struck out three batters while allowing three unearned runs.

Good News For Boston

Boston Red Sox's Patrick Sandoval hands the ball to manager Chad Tracy — Patrick Sandoval hands the ball to manager Chad Tracy in the fourth inning of his rehab start in Worcester April 8. | Rick Cinclair/Telegram & Gazette / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

It's hard to ask for much more in that scenario. Especially because it had been 656 days since his final start in the majors back in 2024 with the Angels before his return to the hill on Wednesday.

At some point, Sandoval is going to help the Red Sox in the majors. It's unclear what role he will have seeing how the rotation is full at the moment. He either could be Triple-A depth just in case an injury pops up. Or, he could be good multi-inning bullpen help. Johan Oviedo was in that role after Connelly Early earned the final spot in the starting rotation out of camp. Oviedo is on the Injured List, though. Once Sandoval is ready for big league action, he easily could come in and fill the role left by Oviedo.

That's a question for another day, though. Right now, what's most important is the fact that he's trending in the right direction. It's been a long time coming. Again, it had been 656 days between his last appearance in the majors and the beginning of this minor league rehab assignment. That's a long time and certainly must not have been easy. Fortunately, for the Red Sox, though, he should be ready to go for major league action soon.