Valentine: Minor League Rehab Likely For Crawford
BOSTON (CBS) – Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine does not expect to see Carl Crawford hit before the team breaks Spring Training on Monday, and the Sox outfielder will likely miss more than two weeks of the regular season with a bad wrist.
While Crawford is making progress, which includes swinging at balls on a tee and being part of a throwing program, Valentine said he will not put a timetable on his return.
"You don't want to put the kid, anyone rehabbing, under the pressure of a deadline," Valentine said on Thursday. "It can never be the calendar or the schedule that says when a guy is healthy. It's not fair.''
Crawford was scheduled to make 20 bunts on Thursday, but is not scheduled to swing at live pitching just yet.
Roche: Torn On Iglesias
Earlier this spring, Crawford had hoped to be in the Sox opening day lineup after undergoing surgery on his left wrist in the offseason. But a setback, likely from too much, too soon, has Crawford staying put in Florida, and likely looking at a minor league rehab assignment before rejoining the big league club.
"Are we going to ask him 50 at-bats somewhere? Probably,'' said Valentine. "You got to do the math on that one. That's 15 games… When you add 15 games from the time he starts playing, I think we have a target. It's not a bull's-eye.''
Photos: Red Sox Spring Training
With Crawford out, the Red Sox likely go with Cody Ross and Ryan Sweeney cornering Jacoby Ellsbury in the outfield next Thursday against the Tigers.
