The Red Sox, unfortunately, were hazy on the details.
The Boston Red Sox have placed Pablo Sandoval on the 15-day disabled list with a strained shoulder.
Barely two weeks after benchingtwo-time All Star Pablo Sandoval, the Boston Red Sox have placed the third baseman on the 15-day disabled list with a strained shoulder.
“To give you an exact moment when it took place, I don't have that, to be honest,” manager John Farrell told reporterson Wednesday.
“He's been hitting a lot extra before (batting practice) and during the game in the cage.”
Sandoval himself similarly had few answers to his sudden injury.
“Before yesterday, I didn't feel nothing weird,” he said.
Haha Red Sox playing the mystery injury game with Sandoval to clear his spot. Good stuff.
— Nick Stellini (@StelliniTweets) April 13, 2016“This morning, I woke up and I couldn't even move my arm. Something happened.”
But there might be a reason for the mystique: Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports reportedthat Sandoval never even had an MRI to try to diagnose the injury before he was placed on the disabled list.
Sandoval, listed at 5’11” and 255 pounds, hit just .245/.292/.366 in 2015 with 10 home runs and 47 RBI in 126 games. His defense, too, has seen a dropoff since his peak playing days.
The Red Sox still have more than $75 million left on Sandoval’s five-year, $95 million contract signed in the 2014 offseason, but seem inclined to explore options to shave his contract off of their payroll — a trade would be easiest if they can find another team in need of a struggling former slugger.
But baseball fans, still, are reluctant to believe that Panda is actually hurt and Boston isn’t just finding an excuse to refill their 25-man roster with a more productive player.