Tag: Baseball

Latest MLB Pipeline mock draft has Red Sox selecting high school shortstop Jett Williams with top pick

In the first installment of their 2022 mock draft, MLB Pipeline has the Red Sox selecting Rockwall-Heath High School shortstop Jett Williams with its first-round pick at No. 24 overall.

The reasoning behind the selection from MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo is simple: “The Red Sox have taken a high school infielder the last three years they had a first-round pick, so we know they don’t shy away from that demographic.”

Mayo, of course, is referring to the fact that Boston has used its last three first-rounders on a trio of prep infielders in Marcelo Mayer (2021), Nick Yorke (2020), and Triston Casas (2018).

Williams, on the other hand, is currently regarded by MLB Pipeline as the No. 25 draft-eligible prospect in this year’s class, which ranks 16th among position players.

The 18-year-old hits from the right side of the plate, is in the midst of his senior season at Rockwall-Heath, and is committed to play college baseball at Mississippi State University. Last year, he batted .347/.514/.723 with five doubles, nine triples, five home runs, 37 RBIs, 40 runs scored, 29 walks, three strikeouts, and 15 stolen bases for the Hawks.

Listed at 5-foot-8 and 178 pounds, Williams may be undersized for his position. But according to his MLB Pipeline scouting report, the native Texan is “a favorite gut-feel guy for a lot of scouts” because of his “quick hands, feel for the barrel, and quality right-handed stroke.”

On the basepaths and on the field, Williams possesses “plus speed and knows how to use his quickness.” Defensively, he dealt with a shoulder injury last summer that affected him on the showcase circuit, though “some evaluators believe he has solid arm strength when healthy.”

With that, MLB Pipeline notes that Williams has “the hands and actions” that are required of a shortstop. And while some believe he has what it takes to stick at shortstop, there are others who think he is best suited for second base or center field.

Williams, who turns 19 in November, is the second draft-eligible high school infielder the Red Sox have been linked to in recent weeks. Baseball America had Boston taking fellow shortstop Cole Young with its top pick in a mock draft that was published earlier this month.

As a reminder, the 2022 MLB Draft will kick off in Los Angeles on July 17, which is a little more than 11 weeks away.

(Picture of Jett Williams via his Instagram)

Red Sox outfield prospect Tyler Esplin set to make Double-A debut for Portland Sea Dogs

Red Sox outfield prospect Tyler Esplin will make his Double-A debut for the Portland Sea Dogs on Wednesday night when they go up against the Somerset Patriots (Yankees affiliate) at TD Bank Ballpark in New Jersey.

Esplin, who will bat eighth and start in right field for Portland, was promoted from High-A Greenville on Tuesday after the Sea Dogs placed fellow outfielder Wil Dalton on the 7-day injured list.

In his first eight games of the 2022 season with Greenville, where he spent the entirety of the 2021 campaign, the left-handed hitting Esplin batted .323/.400/.581 (158 wRC+) with four doubles, two triples, seven runs scored, four walks, and 11 strikeouts over 35 trips to the plate.

Defensively, the 6-foot-3, 230 pounder has played all over the outfield with the Drive while logging 17 innings in left, nine innings in center, and 45 innings in right. He has committed one error and registered one outfield assist thus far.

Esplin, 22, was selected by the Red Sox in the seventh round of the 2017 amateur draft out of the esteemed IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. Boston swayed the Illinois native away from his commitment to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte by signing him for $250,000.

Once regarded by Baseball America as a top-30 prospect within Boston’s farm system on two separate occasions (2018, 2020), Esplin — who turns 23 in July — is a lifetime .235/.316/.347 at four different minor-league levels since making his professional debut in July 2017. He has 12 career home runs and 16 career stolen bases under his belt.

(Picture of Tyler Esplin: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Alex Cora returns to Red Sox after missing last 6 games with COVID-19

Alex Cora has rejoined the Red Sox in Toronto and is expected to return to his post as manager for Wednesday’s contest against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, as was first reported by MLB.com’s Ian Browne.

Cora has missed each of Boston’s last six games after testing positive for COVID-19 shortly before the Sox’ series finale with the Blue Jays at Fenway Park on April 21.

The 46-year-old, who is fully vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19, had already been staying in a hotel upon testing positive after one of his four-year-old twin boys contracted the virus two weeks ago and remained isolated there while experiencing mild symptoms.

In Cora’s place, bench coach Will Venable took over as Boston’s acting manager for the second time in as many seasons and led the club to a 1-5 record to drop the Red Sox to 7-11 on the season.

While losing five of their last six and four straight overall to American League East opponents, the Sox are averaging fewer than three runs per game and have been outscored 26-17 during this rough stretch.

With Cora back in the dugout, though, perhaps the Red Sox’ fortunes will change for the better. They have two more games remaining in Toronto before concluding this lengthy road trip with a three-game weekend series in Baltimore.

As Cora makes his return on Wednesday, it will be right-hander Michael Wacha getting the start for the Sox opposite fellow righty Ross Stripling for the Jays in the third game of this four-game series.. First pitch from Rogers Centre is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Alex Cora: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)

Red Sox prospect Nick Northcut has hit 6 home runs in first 13 games for High-A Greenville

Alongside fellow Greenville Drive teammates Alex Binelas and Ceddanne Rafaela, Red Sox prospect Nick Northcut currently leads the South Atlantic League in home runs with six of them on the young season.

Northcut hit two solo homers as part of a 2-for-4 day at the plate in High-A Greenville’s 10-6 loss to the Hickory Crawdads (Rangers affiliate) at L.P. Frans Stadium on Tuesday night.

Nearly three weeks into the 2022 minor-league season, the right-handed hitter finds himself batting .264/.328/.642 with two doubles, those six homers, 12 RBIs, seven runs scored, three walks, and 17 strikeouts over 13 games spanning 58 plate appearances.

Among qualified hitters in the South Atlantic League, Northcut ranks fourth in slugging percentage, 15th in OPS (.969), second in isolated power (.377), and 17th in wRC+ (148), per FanGraphs. Power is clearly a big part of the 22-year-old’s game, though his 5.2% walk rate and 29.3% strikeout rate are not nearly as encouraging.

Defensively, Northcut has seen playing time at both corner infield positions for the Drive so far this year. The 6-foot-1, 205 pounder has logged 70 innings at first base and 44 innings at the hot corner while committing a total of two errors.

A native of Mason, Ohio, Northcut was a highly-touted prospect coming out of William Mason High School when the Red Sox selected him in the 11th round of the 2018 amateur draft. He was committed to play college baseball at Vanderbilt University, but signed with Boston for an over-slot deal of $565,000. Since then, he has clubbed 26 home runs in 210 professional games and his raw power is probably his top carrying tool.

Northcut, who turns 23 in June, is not regarded by any major publication as one of the top prospects in the Red Sox’ farm system. He can, however, become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time this winter and is certainly making an early case for a spot on Boston’s 40-man roster come late November.

(Picture of Nick Northcut: Maddie Malhotra/Boston Red Sox)

Red Sox pitching prospect Chris Murphy finishes month of April with 2.25 ERA in 4 starts for Double-A Portland

Red Sox pitching prospect Chris Murphy wrapped up his month of April with yet another impressive performance for Double-A Portland on Tuesday night.

Working against the Somerset Patriots (Yankees affiliate) at TD Bank Ballpark, Murphy scattered just two hits and one walk to go along with six strikeouts over six scoreless innings of work. The left-hander retired each of the final nine batters he faced as 50 of the 81 pitches he threw went for strikes.

Through his first four starts of the season with the Sea Dogs, Murphy has posted a 2.25 ERA and 3.12 FIP with 24 strikeouts to seven walks across 20 innings pitched.

Among qualified pitchers in the Eastern League, Murphy ranks 15th in strikeout rate (30.8%), 24th in walk rate (9.0%), seventh in batting average against (.171), 12th in WHIP (0.95), 13th in ERA, and 14th in FIP, per FanGraphs.

Murphy, 23, is currently regarded by Baseball America as the No. 12 prospect in Boston’s farm system, which ranks sixth among pitchers in the organization. The Red Sox originally took the California-born southpaw in the sixth round of the 2019 amateur draft out of the University of San Diego.

Since being promoted from High-A Greenville to Portland last July, Murphy owns a 4.25 ERA and strikeout-to-walk ratio of 71:20 over 11 appearances (10 starts) spanning 53 total innings of work at the Double-A level.

Per his Baseball America scouting report, the 6-foot-1, 175 pound hurler operates with a four-pitch mix that consists of a 92-94 mph fastball that can reach 96-97 mph, an above-average changeup, a curveball, and a changeup. He is also very open when it comes to pitch design and pitch tunneling.

Murphy, who turns 24 in June, is set to become eligible for the Rule 5 Draft for the first time in his career this December. With that, it would not be surprising if the Red Sox elect to promote the lefty to Triple-A Worcester at some point this season to further evaluate and determine if he is worthy of a spot on the club’s 40-man roster come late November.

(Picture of Chris Murphy: Kelly O’Connor/sittingstill.smugmug.com)

Red Sox blow late lead, get walked off on by Blue Jays in extra innings four fourth straight loss

The Red Sox continue to find ways to lose games in heartbreaking fashion, with Tuesday’s walk-off loss to the Blue Jays marking their fourth consecutive defeat and their sixth in the last seven games.

Boston fell to Toronto in 10 innings by a final score of 6-5 at Rogers Centre to drop to 7-11 on the season. They are now 1-4 halfway through their 10-game, three-city road trip.

Nick Pivetta, making his fourth start of the year for the Sox, allowed two runs on three hits and four walks to go along with six strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings of work.

It was a grind for Pivetta, who breezed through his first two innings but ran into some trouble in the bottom of the third when he issued a leadoff walk to Santiago Espinal. Espinal and Gosuke Katoh effectively switched places when the latter grounded into a force out at second base, but he advanced into scoring position himself on a wild pitch.

Another walk of Bradley Zimmer put runners at first and second for the Jays with one out. Christian Vazquez gunned down Zimmer as he unsuccessfully attempted to steal second base but Katoh moved up to third on the play as well. He then scored on an RBI single off the bat of George Springer, who was just getting his productive night at the plate started.

Despite falling behind by a run early on, the Sox lineup quickly responded in their half of the fourth when Xander Bogaerts led off the inning with a hard-hit single off opposing starter Kevin Gausman. Bogaerts successfully stole second base on a J.D. Martinez strikeout and advanced to third on a Zack Collins throwing error. Enrique Hernandez drove him in on a sacrifice fly to knot things up at 1-1.

Pivetta, however, struggled with his command yet again in the latter half of the frame. The Canadian-born right-hander issued another leadoff walk to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. that was followed by a line-drive single from Collins. Guerrero Jr. scored from second on an Espinal RBI single, but Collins was left on base as Pivetta managed to limit the damage to just the one run.

After working hard in both the third and fourth innings, Pivetta recorded the first two outs of the fifth before walking Bo Bichette on seven pitches. Bichette would be the final batter Pivetta faced. The 29-year-old hurler wound up finishing with a final pitch count of 98 (60 strikes) while throwing 52 four-seam fastballs, 28 knuckle curveballs, and 18 sliders. He induced seven swings-and-misses and averaged 93.8 mph with his heater.

In relief of Pivetta, Hirokazu Sawamura received the first call from acting manager Will Venable out of the Boston bullpen. Sawamura stranded the lone runner he inherited in Bichette by getting Guerrero Jr. to ground out.

From there, Austin Davis tossed a scoreless sixth inning and got the first two outs of the seventh before making way for Ryan Brasier, who — like Sawamura — inherited one runner but left him on base by getting Springer to fly out to Jackie Bradley Jr. in center field.

To that point in the contest, the Sox had not been able to get much of anything going against Gausman or the first reliever out of the Blue Jays bullpen in Trevor Richards.

Boston’s fortunes changed in their half of the eighth, though, and that happened when Rafael Devers came off the bench to pinch-hit for Christian Arroyo and immediately greeted Yimi Garcia by ripping a leadoff single off of him. Another single for Vazquez put runners at first and second for Trevor Story, who came through with a clutch, 111.8 mph RBI double that scored Devers and made it a 2-2 game.

That stalemate did not last long, though, as Alex Verdugo kept the rally going with a sacrifice fly that brought in Vazquez and Bogaerts followed with a run-scoring double of his own that pushed across Story. Hernandez then drove in Bogaerts on an RBI single that gave the Red Sox a 5-2 lead just like that.

With a three-run lead to protect all of the sudden, Hansel Robles was dispatched for the eighth inning and worked his way around a two-out single in an otherwise clean frame.

The Sox had an opportunity to add on to their lead in the ninth but could not take advantage of the two walks issued by Ryan Borucki. In the bottom half of the inning, it was Jake Diekman who was in for the save.

Diekman immediately yielded back-to-back doubles to Tapia and Espinal, cutting Boston’s lead down to two runs and putting the tying run (Espinal) in scoring position. The veteran lefty punched out the pinch-hitting Lourdes Gurriel and Zimmer in back-to-back fashion, meaning he was just one out away from closing things out.

Instead of picking up the save, however, Diekman grooved a 2-1, 96 mph fastball down the heart of the plate to Springer, who took it and deposited it 423 feet to center field for the game-tying home run.

Springer’s clutch homer pulled the Blue Jays back even with the Red Sox at 5-5. Matt Barnes got the final out of the ninth and — after his side squandered another scoring opportunity — came back out for the last of the 10th.

Barnes and Co. elected to intentionally walk Guerrero Jr. in hopes of turning a double play. That strategy did not pay off, though, as Barnes walked Alejandro Kirk on seven pitches to load the bases with no outs.

A strikeout of Matt Chapman is how Barnes’ night ended with left-hander Matt Strahm being called upon to face the left-handed hitting Tapia, who proceeded to lace a 298-foot sacrifice fly to left field. Bichette easily scored from third to lift the Blue Jays to a 6-5 walk-off victory in extras.

Next up: Wacha vs. Stripling

The Red Sox will look to put an end to their four-game losing streak against the Blue Jays on Wednesday night. Michael Wacha is slated to start for Boston and he will be opposed by fellow right-hander Ross Stripling for Toronto.

First pitch from Rogers Centre is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN and MLB Network.

(Picture of Bo Bichette and Christian Vazquez: Steve Russell/Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Red Sox’ offensive woes continue as Bo Bichette’s go-ahead grand slam lifts Blue Jays to 6-2 win

The Red Sox’ offensive struggles continued on Monday as they opened their four-game series against the Blue Jays with yet another loss. Boston fell to Toronto by a final score of 6-2 at Rogers Centre to drop to 7-10 on the season.

Nathan Eovaldi, making his fourth start of the year for the Sox, was extremely effective and did not factor into Monday’s decision. The veteran right-hander allowed just two earned run on five hits, no walks, and five strikeouts over seven economic innings of work.

Both runs Eovaldi surrendered to Toronto came by way of the long ball. After tossing four scoreless frames to start his day, the righty served up a 380-foot solo shot to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to lead off the bottom of the fifth.

In his seventh and final inning, Eovaldi yielded another solo homer to Matt Chapman. This one left Chapman’s bat at 107.2 mph, traveled 422 feet to left-center field, and gave the Jays a 2-0 lead.

Finishing with a final pitch count of 72 (56 strikes), Eovaldi induced a total of 10 swings-and-misses while throwing 29 four-seam fastballs, 22 curveballs, 12 sliders, six splitters, and three cutters. The hard-throwing 32-year-old also topped out at 98.8 mph with his heater.

Shortly after Eovaldi’s night had ended, a Trevor Story-lessRed Sox lineup finally got something going against his counterpart in Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios. Up until the eighth inning, Boston had been held in check by Berrios despite having a few scoring opportunities.

Earlier in the second inning, J.D. Martinez made his presence felt after a four-game absence by ripping a one-out double to center field. A four-pitch walk drawn by Jackie Bradley Jr. and line-drive single from Bobby Dalbec then loaded the bases for Christian Arroyo.

Arroyo, however, was unable to come through with a pair of runners in scoring position as he grounded into a back-breaking, 1-2-3 double play that extinguished the threat.

In the top of the fourth, Xander Bogaerts led off with a hard-hit single of his own and moved up to second on a Rafael Devers groundout. But he left on base after Martinez and Bradley Jr. both flew out themselves.

An inning later, Blue Jays center fielder George Springer robbed Kevin Plawecki of a two-out extra-base hit when he sprawled out and made a sensational diving catch on a 101.7 mph liner off the bat of the Red Sox catcher.

Fast forward all the way to the eighth, and the Sox ultimately chased Berrios on back-to-back singles from Dalbec and Arroyo to lead off the inning. With Adam Cimber now on the mound for Toronto, Plawecki advanced both runners into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt.

With the lineup turning back over, Enrique Hernandez broke the seal with an RBI single to left field that brought in Dalbec. Alex Verdugo followed with a sacrifice fly that scored Arroyo and knotted things up at two runs apiece.

That 2-2 tie did not last long, though. With Eovaldi done after seven, Matt Strahm got the first call out of the Red Sox bullpen from acting manager Will Venable in the middle of the eighth.

Strahm got the first out of the frame but issued a one-out single to Raynel Espinal. Bradley Zimmer then dropped a drag bunt down the first base line that Strahm fielded cleanly and flipped to Dalbec covering first base. Dalbec could not squeeze the ball into his glove, though, and that allowed both runners to reach base safely.

That sequence prompted Venable to give Strahm the hook in favor of Tyler Danish, who gave up a single to Springer that loaded the bases for Bichette. Bichette, in turn, crushed a 1-0, 92 mph sinker from Danish and sent it 344 feet over the right field wall for the go-ahead grand slam.

Bichette’s slam gave the Blue Jays a commanding 6-2 lead heading into the ninth. Devers doubled to lead off the inning but was stranded there as Martinez, Bradley Jr., and Dalbec went down in order to Julian Merryweather to seal the defeat.

Some notes from this loss:

Nathan Eovaldi gave up 15 home runs in 182 2/3 innings last season. He has already given up seven home runs in just 21 2/3 innings this season.

The Red Sox went 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Monday and left five runners on base as a team.

At 7-10, Boston has now lost five of its last six games. They are averaging less than 2.2 runs per game and have been outscored 26-13 during this rough stretch.

Next up: Pivetta vs. Gausman

It does not get any easier for the Red Sox as they will go up against Blue Jays right-hander Kevin Gausman on Tuesday night. Boston will counter with Canadian-born righty Nick Pivetta.

First pitch from Rogers Centre is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. eastern time on NESN.

(Picture of Bo Bichette: Mark Blinch/Getty Images)

Red Sox power-hitting prospect Alex Binelas is mashing at High-A Greenville

If it weren’t for Orioles prospect Cesar Prieto, Alex Binelas likely would have become the second member of the Greenville Drive to earn South Atlantic League Player of the Week honors in as many weeks.

In the Drive’s last series against the Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox affiliate) at Fluor Field, Binelas went 6-for-17 (.353) with one double, three home runs, five RBIs, five runs scored, five walks, and eight strikeouts while appearing in five of a possible six games.

On the 2022 campaign as a whole, the left-handed hitting infielder is slashing a stout .306/.435/.714 with two doubles, six homers, 14 runs driven, 14 runs scored, two stolen bases, 11 walks, and 19 strikeouts across 13 games spanning 62 trips to the plate.

Nearly three weeks into the minor-league season, Binelas has been among the top hitters in the South Atlantic League thus far. The 21-year-old currently ranks 16th in walk percentage (17.7%), 19th in batting average, ninth in on-base percentage, second in slugging percentage, second in OPS (1.150), first in isolated power (.408), and third in wRC+ (195), per FanGraphs.

Defensively, Binelas has seen an almost equal amount of playing time at first base and third base at the High-A level. The 6-foot-3, 225 pounder has logged 54 innings at the hot corner, 45 innings at first, and has yet to commit an error.

Binelas, who turns 22 next month, is ranked by Baseball America as the No. 17 prospect and by MLB Pipeline as the No. 22 prospect in the Red Sox’ farm system. He is undoubtedly one of the top power hitters in the organization.

This is Binelas’ first full season in pro ball. The Oak Creek, Wis. native was originally selected by his hometown Brewers in the third round of last year’s draft out of the University of Louisville but was traded to the Red Sox with Jackie Bradley Jr. and fellow prospect David Hamilton for Hunter Renfroe in December.

From the outside, one might think transitioning to a new organization may be a tough task for a player still getting his feet wet as a professional. For Binelas, though, going from the Brewers to the Sox over the winter hardly seems to be affecting him.

With that, a mid-to-late-season promotion to Double-A Portland certainly seems within reach for Binelas if he can maintain this kind of production at the plate in Greenville.

(GIF of Alex Binelas via the Greenville Drive)

Garrett Whitlock to start for Red Sox in Thursday’s series finale against Blue Jays

Garrett Whitlock will start for the Red Sox in Thursday’s series finale against the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre, the team announced earlier Monday evening.

The Sox are without one of their starters for this four-game set in Toronto after placing Tanner Houck on the restricted list due to his unvaccinated status. Houck was in line to start on Thursday, but is not eligible to travel to Canada on account of the country’s rules for entry.

Because of this, a spot in Boston’s rotation opened up and it unsurprisingly goes to Whitlock, who will follow Nathan Eovaldi, Nick Pivetta, and Michael Wacha by taking the mound on Thursday.

Whitlock was absolutely dominant in the first start of his big-league career against the Rays on Saturday. Working on three days rest, the right-hander allowed just one hit and no walks to go along with seven strikeouts across four scoreless innings at Tropicana Field. 33 of the 48 pitches he threw went for strikes.

Although the Red Sox have primarily used Whitlock as a reliever since acquiring him from the Yankees in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, it is quite apparent that the club views the 25-year-old hurler as a starter in the long-term.

The four-year, $18.75 million contract extension Whitlock signed with Boston earlier this month includes escalators based on the number of innings he pitches in the future. It can also max out at $44.5 million over six years beginning in 2023.

Including Saturday’s start, Whitlock has posted a miniscule 0.66 ERA and 1.84 FIP with 18 strikeouts to two walks through his first five appearances (13 2/3 innings pitched) of the season. Last year, the righty made one appearance in Toronto on August 7 and struck out three over two scoreless frames of relief.

Considering that he will be pitching on a conventional four days rest come Thursday afternoon, it should be interesting to see how deep the Red Sox allow Whitlock to pitch into the game if he is as effective as he was over the weekend.

On the other side of things, Alek Manoah — who also made his major-league debut last season — is slated to oppose Whitlock and make his fourth start of 2022 for the Blue Jays.

(Picture of Garrett Whitlock: Cliff Welch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Red Sox reinstate Kevin Plawecki from COVID-19 related injured list, option Connor Wong to Triple-A Worcester

The Red Sox have reinstated catcher Kevin Plawecki from the COVID-19 related injured the list, the team announced before Monday’s series opener against the Blue Jays in Toronto. In a corresponding move, fellow backstop Connor Wong was optioned to Triple-A Worcester.

Plawecki, who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19, initially tested positive for the virus last Monday and was placed on the COVID-related IL as a result. Since he is vaccinated, the 31-year-old was eligible to return sooner than 10 days so long as he registered two negative PCR tests, showed no signs of a fever, and received approval from the joint COVID medical committee.

In total, Plawecki missed seven games while sidelined due to COVID-19. Before that, the right-handed hitter appeared in four games for Boston and went 1-for-10 with one RBI, one run scored, one walk, and four strikeouts. He will be batting ninth and catching Nathan Eovaldi to begin things on Monday at Rogers Centre.

Wong, meanwhile, was called up for the first time this season when Plawecki tested positive on April 18. The 25-year-old caught two games in the Sox’ last series against the Jays at Fenway Park and went 1-for-6 with one RBI and one strikeout.

With Plawecki being reinstated, the only Red Sox player who remains on the COVID-19 related injured list is infielder Jonathan Arauz, who tested positive one day after Plawecki did.

Elsewhere, Sox manager Alex Cora has yet to re-join the team after testing positive last Thursday. Acting manager Will Venable told reporters (including MLB.com’s Ian Browne) earlier Monday that Cora is feeling better and has not been ruled out for the Blue Jays series, though he has not yet been cleared to return either.

(Picture of Kevin Plawecki: Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)