The Red Sox have placed righty Steven Wright on the 10-day DL with a knee sprain, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal was among those to report on Twitter. Boston will call up reliever Brandon Workman to take the open roster spot, though it’s not yet known who’ll account for Wright’s slot in the rotation.
It’s not yet clear at all how serious an issue the knee problem is. Teams are certainly utilizing the newly shortened ten-day disabled period to help with roster maintenance, and that’s especially true of starters who can simply be skipped while they are out. But Wright has had some recent knee issues.
Wright has also markedly struggled for most of the year, posting an unsightly 8.25 ERA over 24 frames through five starts. He has managed just 4.9 K/9 to go with 1.9 BB/9 while permitting nine home runs. That’s neither the length nor the quality that the club needs from the knuckler.
Whether there’s a better option on hand, though, isn’t clear. While Kyle Kendrick has struggled, Henry Owens and Brian Johnson have each been rather successful at Triple-A, and both already have 40-man spots. With David Price still a ways away from his anticipated return, Boston will likely need to hope for better from Wright — who, it should be noted, is out of options — or one of the available replacements for a while longer.