A couple of key players, Matt Duffy and Brad Boxberger, are dealing with a pair of minor setbacks which have kept them from any Grapefruit League action.
There is now a possibility that Duffy — who is mending from left heel surgery — will miss Opening Day due to the slower pace of his rehabilitation.
While there has been no major setback, Duffy conceded that he had to back off from taking ground balls at full speed due to soreness afterward. Because of it, he won’t be ready to play in exhibition games at least until the fourth week of March, and noted that he may not be ready Opening Day.
It hasn’t quite progressed as quickly as we hoped, he said. The goal is to be smart about it and let it be ready when it’s ready. …We’re trying not to put a hard date on it and just let the thing take its course. If I have to take an extra week then so be it. They’ve been pretty good in communicating that to me – not pushing it unnecessarily. The goal is to be healthy throughout the whole year – not to push it for opening day and then two weeks in I’ve got to go on the DL because it’s just so sore. That’s kind of the goal.
Duffy told Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) his heel is “still a little bit behind strength-wise,” which is why they cut out the “more intense” ground balls as he was sore afterward and had to reduce his workload.
The focus now is to strengthen his heel, which Duffy said it has been responding well. A caveat: neither he, nor the team, will know anything for sure until he starts fielding grounders again.
As for Boxberger, who is one of three players that has not appeared in a Grapefruit League game, his slow track is the result of back/right lat soreness. While there is no concern of an arm issue — therefore he should be ready for Opening Day — the lat muscle is responsible for extension and adduction (the up and down motion of the arms) which affects his pitching motion.
I’ve been throwing bullpens and live batting practice and am just a little more sore than I would like to be coming off those, Boxberger said. No concern at all. Just taking it slow right now.
Rays manager Kevin Cash said Boxberger likely will not make his spring debut for another week or so, although, he isn’t overly concerned.
(Boxberger) had a little bit of a setback with his lat. We’re not overly concerned. It grabbed him playing catch a little bit. We’re going to take it slow, slow with him.
The plan is for the right-handed reliever to make his spring debut at the end of next week, which would give him about half-a-month to be prepared for the April 2 opener. In Boxberger’s words, it’s “plenty of time to get ready and be ready to go for Opening Day.”