Gordon Edes, ESPN Staff Writer 10y

Drew has scheduled night off

CLEVELAND -- Some quick hits from Cleveland:

* Stephen Drew is sitting out in his second game back with the Red Sox. That was the plan all along, said manager John Farrell, who had Jonathan Herrera at short Tuesday. Drew went 0-for-2 with a walk Monday. He handled every chance hit his way, started two double plays and was in the middle of another.

* Left-hander Felix Doubront, happy with the way he threw in a bullpen session Monday, will begin a rehab assignment with a start Thursday in Double-A Portland.

* Catcher-first baseman Ryan Lavarnway underwent surgery to remove the hamate bone from his left wrist. Dr. Thomas Graham of the Cleveland Clinic performed the surgery. Farrell said typical recovery is 5-7 weeks before a player can resume baseball activity.

* While Shane Victorino (hamstring) has begun running, Farrell said it is still too early to say when he will be sent out on a rehab assignment.

* Third baseman Will Middlebrooks (fractured finger) remains in an “inactive” period, Farrell said, while waiting to regain full range of motion in the finger.

* Farrell said “you can’t rule out” the possibility that infielder-outfielder Mookie Betts could be summoned at some point this season to help the major league team. Betts was promoted to Triple-A Pawtucket Tuesday, and the plan for him at the outset, Farrell said, is to play second base there.

Eventually, however, Farrell expects Betts also to be used in center field, where he had played a handful of games for Portland.

“A positional fit defensively is going to be part of this,’’ Farrell said of Betts’s big-league prospects. “It’s exciting to see a young player who this time a year ago was in the South Atlantic League. He’s moving quick.

“A player tells you when he’s ready for the next challenge, and his performance at Double-A suggests that. He’s doing some things offensively that are eye-popping, when you see how productive and consistent he’s been.’’

Betts, 21, started the 2013 season with Greenville in the lower Class A South Atlantic League before being promoted to high Class A Salem of the Carolina League, where he hit .341 with 22 extra-base hits and 20 stolen bases in 51 games.

Both Jackie Bradley Jr. and Xander Bogaerts were promoted to the big leagues a year after starting a season in Class A Salem.

^ Back to Top ^