This is a 2017 photo of Drew Pomeranz of the Boston Red Sox baseball team. AP NEWSWIRE
The Red Sox said Pomeranz, in competition for a spot in the rotation, was pulled against Minnesota as a precaution.
The AL East champions had been counting on Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello, David Price and newcomer Chris Sale to be their big three in the rotation, with Pomeranz, knuckleballer Steven Wright and left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez vying for the remaining two spots.
But Price is out indefinitely, likely to start the season on the disabled list with a strained left elbow. Manager John Farrell said it was “too early to determine” if Pomeranz might not be ready when Boston opens at home on April 3 against Pittsburgh.
“I don’t think this is going to affect opening day,” Pomeranz said. “I was just one inning away from having a normal outing. I’ve had little tweak in my triceps before. It gets tight and I come in the next day and it’s fine.”
Pomeranz has had issues with his left arm since the Red Sox acquired him in a trade last July with San Diego. He received a stem cell injection during the offseason and was delayed earlier in spring training, making his first Grapefruit League start on March 14.
The 28-year-old Pomeranz was an All-Star with the Padres last year, then was dealt to Boston and went 3-5 with a 4.59 ERA for his new club.
“I think just my workload has been a lot more than usual this week. I could have thrown one more but it’s only my second start so might as well give it rest,” he said.
Pomeranz said this discomfort was in a different spot than the injection.
“Like I said, I could have gone out there and thrown another one. I’ll come in tomorrow and hopefully everything will be fine. I don’t think it’s too serious,” he said. “I never thought I was going to be perfect from the beginning and be ready to go. I started to feel better this week. I increased the workload and intensity so maybe it just tightened up on me a little bit. Before that I felt really good, best my arm had felt to this point. It’s just part of early season, preseason.”
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