The Boston Red Sox are likely to place right-hander Nathan Eovaldi on the injured list because of neck soreness, according to media reports. The team announced Monday that right-hander Josh Winckowski will start Tuesday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays instead of Eovaldi.
Winckowski was optioned to Triple-A Worcester on Friday and was only eligible to be recalled within 15 days if he replaced an injured player. Eovaldi, who was scratched from his scheduled start last Thursday, hoped to avoid the IL but now is likely to be shut down for a couple of weeks. Manager Alex Cora told reporters Sunday that Eovaldi would not pitch Tuesday as hoped. Eovaldi’s 15-day IL stint can be backdated three days to Saturday, which makes him eligible to return Sept. 4, at the earliest.
Eovaldi is 5-3 with a 4.15 ERA in 18 starts this season and last pitched Aug. 12 against the Yankees. He spent more than a month on the IL from mid-June to July 15 with lower back inflammation. Winckowski is 5-6 with a 5.19 ERA in his last 12 starts and gave up six runs in five innings against the Pirates on Thursday. He is a better matchup against a righty-heavy Toronto lineup than lefty Rich Hill, who is available on regular rest.
The Red Sox have not announced the rest of their rotation for the Toronto series. Kutter Crawford would be available to pitch Wednesday on regular rest. Hill, who last pitched Wednesday, is available as well.
PHILLIES: Slugger Bryce Harper will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Tuesday.
The NL MVP hasn’t played since breaking his left thumb on June 25. Lehigh Valley is hosting Gwinnett for a six-game series, and Harper is expected to play there through Saturday, take Sunday off and possibly return to the Philadelphia lineup on Monday when the Phillies begin a series at Arizona.
The Phillies are 28-20 without Harper. He is batting .318 with 15 homers and 48 RBI in 64 games.
METS: Jacob deGrom had an issue while warming up before his last start and was pushed back from a Subway Series outing against the Yankees.
Taijuan Walker will follow Max Scherzer in the rotation and start Tuesday night’s finale of the two-game series at Yankee Stadium. Walker has not pitched since Aug. 16 at Atlanta due to back spasms and felt good Monday, a day after he worked out Sunday in Philadelphia.
“I don’t want him to get too far away from pitching and lose his arm strength,” Mets Manager Buck Showalter said Monday. “That was the primary reason.”
Showalter said deGrom likely will start Thursday against Colorado but could take the mound Friday and swap spots with Chris Bassitt.
“We’re trying to be careful,” Showalter said. “The priority is with Tai. We don’t think it’s a bad thing for Jake.”
DeGrom, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, is 2-1 with a 2.31 ERA in four starts since a year-long layoff caused by an elbow injury last summer and a stress reaction in his right scapula this spring. He threw 59 pitches in his season debut at Washington on Aug. 2, then 76 in each of his next two outings and 95 last Thursday in a 3-2 loss at the Braves.
• Banker-turned-reliever Nate Fisher found out the hard way that baseball really is a numbers game.
A day after a sparkling major league debut that brightened the sports world, Fisher was cut by the New York Mets.
The NL East leaders made the move heading into the two-game Subway Series against the New York Yankees. In fact, Fisher actually was in the Mets’ clubhouse at Yankee Stadium two hours before game time, then was designated for assignment.
Now completely off the 40-man roster, Fisher could be traded or placed on waivers during a seven-day period. If unclaimed, he could be assigned outright back to the minors with the Mets.
The move came while many were still reveling in the sheer improbability of Fisher’s path.
On Sunday, the 26-year-old lefty who had once given up his hopes of a baseball career for a job in the financial world dazzled in his debut.
Fisher threw three scoreless innings of one-hit relief to give the Mets a chance in a game they eventually won 10-9 over the Phillies.
DODGERS: Los Angeles and two-time All-Star Max Muncy have agreed on a $13.5 million, one-year contract extension for 2023
The deal includes a $10 million club option for 2024 with no buyout.
The option price can increase by $4 million based on plate appearances next year. He would get a one-time assignment bonus of $1 million if traded.
The 31-year-old outfielder has struggled this season. He’s hitting .190 with 16 homers and 47 RBI while playing in 99 games.
YANKEES: Giancarlo Stanton anticipates returning to the Yankees’ lineup on Thursday when New York starts a trip at Oakland.
Stanton, batting .228 with 24 homers and 61 RBI for the AL East leaders, has not played since July 23 because of left Achilles tendinitis. The 32-year-old All-Star went 0 for 7 with three strikeouts in two minor league injury rehabilitation games with Double-A Somerset last weekend and is to face injured Yankees pitcher Luis Severino in a simulated game at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday.
• Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman responded to his team’s funk with some flowery language and belief in manager Aaron Boone, the coaches and players.
“You get the bouquets come your way when things are flying high and you get the slings and arrows when things aren’t going well,” Cashman said before Monday night’s Subway Series opener against the Mets. “You hear it loud and clear. We know it and we feel it. And it’s our job to find a way to to be flying high and make sure that the product out there is something that everybody’s excited about.”
The Yankees (74-48) had lost 14 of their last 18 games and six straight series for the first time since 1995. Their AL East lead stood at eight games, down from 15 1/2 games in early July.
Cashman and owner Hal Steinbrenner were booed during Sunday’s ceremony to retire Paul O’Neill’s No. 21. Cashman held a news conference Monday evening, endorsing the team’s coaching staff and Boone, his fifth-year manager.
CUBS: Chicago right-hander Kyle Hendricks will not return this season after he was hampered by shoulder trouble for much of the year.
Hendricks finishes with a 4-6 record and a career-high 4.80 ERA in 16 starts.
“Very unfortunate obviously. You just want to pitch,” Hendricks said. “That’s it. I just want to pitch all year and be there for my guys every fifth day. … But, you know, things get in the way, things happen.”
Hendricks got 12 days off between starts in early June because of shoulder fatigue. He returned June 14 against San Diego, but he left a July 5 start at Milwaukee after just three innings.
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