Daisuke Matsuzaka will not pitch as scheduled on Tuesday after getting a cortisone injection. (AP)

Right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka had a cortisone shot in his right trapezius muscle in his upper back, manager Bobby Valentine told reporters, and he will not make his scheduled start on May 22. That almost certainly means that he will be shut down for at least seven days, thus permitting the Red Sox to start a fresh 30-day rehab clock for him on a minor league rehab assignment. Matsuzaka’s initial rehab assignment was slated to end on Wednesday.

Matsuzaka appeared, for much of the spring, to be well ahead of schedule in his rehab from Tommy John surgery. He suffered no setbacks after undergoing the procedure in June 2011, to the point where the Sox thought he might be back in the majors in less than a year.

That is no longer the case. Hist stuff was inconsistent en route to a 4.62 ERA over five minor league rehab starts. Though he struck out 22 and walked six in 25 1/3 innings, he also got shelled for six homers.

The fact that Matsuzaka is not available to the Sox in the near term underscores the tenuous depth of the team’s rotation. Matsuzaka is injured. So is Aaron Cook, though the sinkerballer seems likely to commence a minor league rehab assignment soon. Beyond those two, the team’s rotation options (should either injury or poor performance necessitate another starter) include pitchers such as Ross Ohlendorf and Justin Germano, pitchers with big league experience but who have been showing less-than-dominating stuff against Triple-A hitters.

That reality looms over conversations about whether to move Daniel Bard or Clay Buchholz out of the rotation if either struggles. For now, especially until Cook can return, the Sox face a question of what alternatives they have.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 6-3 LOSS AT NORFOLK (ORIOLES)

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– At the time that the Sox moved Alex Wilson into the bullpen, their major league bullpen was in a state of some crisis. Since then, however, the group has stabilized en route to the lowest bullpen ERA of any team in the majors in May. That being the case, the Sox have been able to proceed at a gradual pace with the right-hander, in deference to the absence of a pressing team need at the moment, the team’s depth (Mark Melancon, Clayton Mortensen and Junichi Tazawa have all been dominant this year, and all are on the 40-man roster) and the fact that Wilson himself has yet to perform at a level to force his way onto the big league roster. Read the rest of this entry »

Daisuke Matsuzaka was subdued after 4 2/3 shutout innings in his latest rehab outing on Monday. (AP)

The reality is that Tommy John surgery, more often than not, does not feature a straight line rehab process.

Rich Hill represented the exception, experiencing no setbacks in the roughly 11 months since his surgery to the point where he’s already asserted himself as an important contributor in the Red Sox’ major league bullpen. But the path back is typically different — and more deliberate — particularly for starting pitchers.

And so, it should not come as a complete surprise that Daisuke Matsuzaka has not yet looked like a dominant pitcher in his rehab appearances. There have been interesting signs, such as the fact that he touched as high as 94 mph while pitching in extended spring training, and the fact that he punched out seven in a Double-A rehab start a little more than a week ago. But he remains a work in progress, and not a finished product.

On Monday in Pawtucket, he offered a reminder of that fact. He tossed 4 2/3 shutout innings, but it took the right-hander 87 pitches to get to that stage of the game. he was unable to finish the fifth inning, something that represented a bit of a disappointment.

“I had about four walks and a lot of two-ball, three-ball counts which knocked up my pitch count,” Matsuzaka told reporters (via a translator) in Pawtucket. “I really wanted to throw at least five innings, but it didn’t happen, so I’m not really happy about that.”

While Matsuzaka reported no problems in the neck issue that delayed his latest outing by a few days, he acknowledged that his rebuilt elbow varies on a day-to-day basis. That being the case, he did not exude certainty about whether he might be ready to return to the majors with another couple of starts.

“Overall, my body feels good, so that’s fine, but my elbow, depending on the day — some days it feels better than others. Right now, I’m hoping when I start, it hits the day I’m feeling good,” he told reporters. “Regarding being ready in two more games, it’s hard to say because it’s a step-by-step process, a game-by-game process. I’ll just go see how I pitch my next outing and see how that goes and see where I stand then.”

In many respects, in examining the histories of other Red Sox pitchers who underwent Tommy John, it is remarkable that Matsuzaka — less than a year removed from the repair of his ulnar collateral ligament last June — is in Triple-A. Junichi Tazawa had the procedure performed in April 2010 and did not start a rehab assignment for 13 months. Former Sox pitcher Nick Hagadone (who recorded his first career big league save on Monday) went under the knife in May 2008 and didn’t start pitching in minor league games until June 2009. Read the rest of this entry »

With Will Middlebrooks now in the major leagues, the top position playing prospect in the Red Sox system is now almost certainly a 19-year-old in Salem who is playing at a level well beyond his years.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 5-3 LOSS AT TOLEDO (TIGERS)

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– Ross Ohlendorf had his worst outing of the season, allowing five runs on six hits and three walks in three innings while giving up his first homer of the year. He struck out four and, after walking one batter in each of his first four starts, issued three free passes.

– Mark Melancon retired all six batters he faced, getting three strikeouts and three groundball outs, and he has now tossed 6 1/3 scoreless innings since being optioned with all of his outs coming either via punchout or grounder.

– Ryan Lavarnway is in a bit of an offensive funk, going 1-for-14 with six strikeouts and no walks in his last four games. On the year, he is now hitting .247 with a .359 OBP, .351 slugging mark and .709 OPS, though his 13 walks and 17 strikeouts suggest that he is still having largely competitive at-bats.

– Lars Anderson, sent back down to the minors on Wednesday, went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in his first game back in Triple-A. He has struck out at least once in each of his last nine minor league games, and his line has sunk to .237/.338/.373/.711.

DOUBLE-A PORTLAND SEA DOGS: 4-3 LOSS VS. TRENTON

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– Chris Balcom-Miller turned in one of his best starts of the year, striking out a season-high five and getting eight groundball outs in five innings while allowing two earned runs. The right-hander is among the more difficult sorts of pitchers to evaluate based on ERA, since as an extreme groundball pitcher, he is highly dependent upon the performance of the infield defense behind him. Balcom-Miller is second in all of Double-A and first in the Eastern League in groundout-to-flyout ratio. As such, it is difficult to judge him solely by his ERA of 6.20. That said, it is also notable that Balcom-Miller has given up four homers in his five starts, suggesting inconsistency with his power sinker. Read the rest of this entry »

It was a big night for a number of position prospects in the Red Sox system, with noteworthy contributions from Will Middlebrooks, Xander Bogaerts and Sean Coyle. That said, the most important performance of the day might have been a single scoreless inning, that turned in by right-hander Mark Melancon in his Triple-A debut.

None of the reliever’s four appearances in the big leagues this year occurred without at least one run being scored. In Pawtucket, he has a chance to hit the reset button, particularly now that he is working with a 0.00 ERA rather than a 49.50 mark.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 15-10 WIN VS. DURHAM (RAYS)

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– Another day, another terrific line for Will Middlebrooks, who is amidst the best stretch of his career. He went 2-for-4 with a homer (his third straight game with a longball), a walk, three runs and four more runs knocked in. In his last 10 games, he is hitting .395/.435/.837/1.272 with six homers and 19 RBI.

Overall, he is tied for fourth in all of the minor leagues in both homers (6) and RBI (20).

Middlebrooks only has one other streak of homers in three straight games, that coming last June 26-28 when he went deep in three consecutive contests while on a rehab assignment with the Lowell Spinners.

One interesting note on Middlebrooks’ power this year — in contrast to a year ago, when most of his power was from center to right-center, Middlebrooks is pulling more homers this year, including his three-run bomb to left in Pawtucket on Saturday night. That was his fourth homer to left this season.

– Mark Melancon made his first appearance in Triple-A, striking out two and allowing a single in a scoreless inning of work. He needed just 11 pitches (eight strikes) to blitz through his inning of work.

– Alex Hassan clubbed his first homer in Triple-A, a grand slam, to cap a 2-for-4 night.

– First baseman Mauro Gomez went 4-for-4 with a pair of homers and a walk. He’s now hitting .356/.397/.661/1.058 for the season, though most of his damage has come at home. He’s hit all four of his homers at McCoy Stadium, .500/.542/1.091/1.633 in 24 plate appearances.

DOUBLE-A PORTLAND SEA DOGS: 7-5 LOSS AT BINGHAMTON (METS) Read the rest of this entry »

While it appeared that Andrew Miller was nearing the end of his rehab assignment, the left-hander had a forgettable day that may have delayed his timetable. Meanwhile, Will Middlebrooks is doing plenty to validate the sense that he is, in fact, the top prospect in the Red Sox farm system. And Juan Carlos Linares, off to a tremendous start in Double-A, suffered an injury that forced him out of Sunday’s game.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 10-9 LOSS AT BUFFALO (METS)

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– Andrew Miller had command issues in his latest rehab appearance, walking each of the first three batters he faced and giving up a bases-loaded single before striking out a right-handed hitter for his only out of the day. He was lifted, but saw all three runners he left on base score on a grand slam allowed by Tony Pena. At one stretch, Miller threw balls on 11 of 12 pitches, and he ended up logging 29 pitches in the outing. He was slated to pitch for the second time in as many games on Monday, but it remains to be seen whether he will do so in light of his poor results and high pitch count.

– Third baseman Will Middlebrooks has three straight multi-hit games, going 6-for-13 with two homers, a double and eight runs batted in during the brief stretch. For the year, he is hitting .364/.378/.636/1.014 with three homers and 11 RBI (tied for the league lead) in 11 games.

DOUBLE-A PORTLAND SEA DOGS: 9-2 LOSS VS. BINGHAMTON (METS)

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– Juan Carlos Linares has now reached base in all 11 contests of the season after going 1-for-2 with a single, but more significantly, he left the game after four innings when he suffered a right leg injury while sliding into second base, nearly a year after he suffered season-ending torn ligaments to his ankle. However, Kevin Thomas of the Portland Press-Herald reports that Linares left the field under his own power, and that the initial diagnosis was tightness in his right hamstring. To date, Linares is hitting .415/.489/.707/1.197. Read the rest of this entry »

Rich Hill is getting ready to head to Salem on the next stop of his rehab assignment.

Rich Hill is ready to take the next step in his rehab from Tommy John surgery, top prospect Will Middlebrooks is doing some early damage and a couple of pitchers left their outfielders in a state of utter boredom.

TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 8-0 WIN VS. LEHIGH VALLEY (PHILLIES)

– A year ago, third baseman Will Middlebrooks had two extra-base hits (both homers) in 16 games and 60 plate appearances in Pawtucket following his late-season call-up from Portland. On Tuesday, in his fifth game of the season (and with 22 at-bats now under his belt), he collected his third extra-base hit (and first homer) of 2012, going 2-for-4 with a homer to right-center.

– Early in spring training, one Red Sox minor league instructor watched Mauro Gomez take batting practice. “He looks like Albert Pujols,” he said, half-kidding, based on the first baseman’s thick frame and the fact that the burly basher (listed at 6-foot-2, 230 pounds) blasted ball after ball over the chain-link fence and into some Florida wetland.

In 18 at-bats, Gomez has hit the ground running, hitting .389 (7-for-18) with a .421 OBP, .778 slugging mark, 1.199 OPS and two homers. In 135 games with the Braves’ Triple-A affiliate last year, Gomez hit .304 with a .356 OBP, .522 slugging mark, .878 OPS, 24 homers, 60 extra-base hits and a league-leading 264 total bases.

– Right-hander Ross Ohlendorf proved both effective and efficient, permitting just two hits and one walk in six shutout innings while striking out three and recording eight outs via grounder (including three double play balls). He needed just 63 pitches to earn the victory, in the process improving Pawtucket’s ERA to a league-best 1.26.

Ohlendorf told Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal that he employed a cutter he learned during spring training from Josh Beckett into his pitch mix.

DOUBLE-A PORTLAND SEADOGS: 7-1 WIN VS. TRENTON (YANKEES)

– The Sea Dogs ended their franchise-record five-game season-opening losing streak with a blowout win against the Trenton Thunder.

– Chris Balcom-Miller, the right-hander acquired from the Rockies in a trade for Manny Delcarmen in Aug. 2010, mowed through six innings, allowing one run on three hits and three walks while striking out three. All three of the hits he allowed were groundball singles, and 12 of the 18 outs Balcom-Miller recorded came on the ground, with three double-play grounders thrown into the mix. Read the rest of this entry »

Former Red Sox pitcher Manny Delcarmen signed a minor league deal with the Mariners that included an invitation to spring training, the Mariners announced. Delcarmen, 29, is coming off a season in which he struggled with the Sox and then, following an Aug. 31 trade to the Rockies, in Colorado. He had a 4.99 ERA with a career-low 6.5 strikeouts per nine innings and a career-high 5.5 walks per nine innings in 57 appearances.

However, Delcarmen is just a couple years removed from having been one of the more effective middle relievers in the American League. In 2007-08, he had a 2.81 ERA for the Sox with 8.6 punchouts per nine innings.

The Hyde Park native spent more than 10 years in the Red Sox system after being drafted by his hometown club in the second round of the 2000 draft. While he emerged as an important setup man for the Sox in recent years, he struggled with his mechanics last year, with such struggles responsible in the eyes of the team for him diminished velocity (his fastball, which had averaged 95.5 mph in 2008, according to Fangraphs.com, fell to 93.9 mph in 2009 and 93.1 mph in 2010) and command. His role in the Sox bullpen, in turn, diminished, leading the Sox to shipp him to Colorado last Aug. 31 in exchange for minor league pitcher Chris Balcom-Miller. Delcarmen has a career 11-8 record and 3.97 ERA.

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