Red Sox's Chad Tracy Speaks on Adley Rutschman's Banged-Up Elbow

The Boston Red Sox fortunately have a day off on Thursday before they begin what could be a game-changing series over the weekend.

When the Red Sox turned their season around back towards the end of June, it was the New York Yankees that Boston was facing that sparked everything. Boston was 32-46 on June 25 and then swept the Yankees in a four-game series at Fenway Park, which kicked off what has become a historic mid-season turnaround.

The Red Sox and Yankees will begin another series against one another on Friday, but things look different. Now, Boston isn't sitting in last place any longer. Boston will have a legit chance of moving past New York for the top spot in the Wild Card race, if things go the Red Sox's way. It doesn't hurt that it's very likely Roman Anthony will return over the weekend for Boston as well. Another thing to watch for is All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman, who missed the last two games with a sore elbow.

On the bright side, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy insinuated that Rutschman was doing better on Wednesday and was kept out to give him more rest, as transcribed by MassLive.com's Christopher Smith.

The Red Sox-Yankees Will Clash Friday

Aug 21, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox relief pitcher Aroldis Chapman (44) and catcher Adley Rutschman (31) celebrate after defeating the San Francisco Giants at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

"He definitely is better today, which is good. But if he’s not like, ‘Hey, I feel completely fully recovered,’ why would you do that? Use today plus the off day ... to try to get completely on the other side of this thing and hopefully be able to turn him loose in New York," Tracy said. "So hope we’re trending that way, but it just didn’t make a lot of sense to me today to try to risk putting him out there. So just let him be off today and we’ll reassess him after the off day."

Smith also shared that the club "expects" Rutschman to be alright for the Yankees series.

Now, of course, we'll have to see Rutschman in the lineup before fully assuming that everything is fine. With all of the injuries the club has dealt with this season, it's good to be cautious. But it does sound like we should see the All-Star catcher back in the mix this weekend.

Realistically, we could see Rutschman in the lineup and both Anthony and Trevor Story back in the lineup. Plus, even Garrett Whitlock is trending in the right direction and insinuated that he could be ready for the series as well.

Demon. Returning. Soon. Seems like everything went great for Garrett Whitlock today. Awesome to hear. pic.twitter.com/1QHuI2wzFZ
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) August 27, 2026

It's going to be a fun series over in New York this weekend, to say the least.

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