{"id":119929,"date":"2026-04-22T12:05:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T16:05:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=119929"},"modified":"2026-04-22T12:05:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T16:05:10","slug":"sonny-gray-justin-slaten-more-red-sox-pitcher-injury-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/04\/22\/sonny-gray-justin-slaten-more-red-sox-pitcher-injury-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Sonny Gray, Justin Slaten, & More: Red Sox Pitcher Injury Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

In any sport for any team, injuries are a major concern. The good thing with baseball is that the season is 162 games. The assumption is if it\u2019s not Tommy John or tearing a ligament, the player will return this season. In the case of the Red Sox however, it\u2019s a lot of injuries to one specific area early on. It\u2019s a little concerning, and it\u2019s not just at the major league level. Here are just some of the pitchers that are injured currently, and when they\u2019re projected to return.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sonny Gray<\/b><\/h2>\n
\"Sonny
Apr 20, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Sonny Gray (54) walks to the dugout after being relieved during the fourth inning after an apparent injury against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sonny Gray<\/span><\/a> was a shocking injury, as he pitched less than three innings before <\/span>being pulled on Monday<\/span><\/a>. He left the game due to right hamstring tightness and was placed on the injured list on Tuesday morning. This is a big loss for Boston currently, as it could be argued that Gray was their best pitcher in the rotation. With the lack of a serious injury, Gray could be healed by his next start date. However, MLB <\/span>requires<\/span><\/a> that pitchers on the injured list stay on there for about two weeks. Therefore, Gray\u2019s return will be pushed to about early May.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The subsequent roster move was calling up <\/span>Tyler Samaniego<\/span><\/a>, a rookie who\u2019s already had a <\/span>stellar start<\/span><\/a> to his debut season. The bigger question is who will take over Gray\u2019s spot in the rotation. <\/span>Payton Tolle<\/span><\/a> seems like the most likely candidate with <\/span>Johan Oviedo<\/span><\/a> being injured. Although, it feels like they would\u2019ve called him up instead of Samaniego if that was the case. Time will tell who starts come Saturday.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Justin Slaten<\/b><\/h2>\n

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Justin Slaten<\/span><\/a> has been one of the better bullpen arms this year for Boston, pitching a little over three innings but maintaining an ERA of 0.00. On April 5th he suffered a right oblique strain, causing him to be put on the injured list. During his time out, multiple pitchers have taken his role, including Samaniego and fellow rookie pitcher <\/span>Jack Anderson<\/span><\/a>. Anderson\u2019s kept it steady and has become a reliable arm in the bullpen, but Slaten\u2019s arm is missed surely as of now. While Slaten\u2019s IL stint passed the minimum time on Monday, he is still <\/span>expected to make a rehab assignment<\/span><\/a> in Worcester before joining the big leagues again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Patrick Sandoval\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

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Patrick Sandoval<\/span><\/a> may have signed with the Red Sox in December of 2024, but due to <\/span>season-ending UCL and Tommy John surgery<\/span><\/a>, he has yet to make an appearance in a Red Sox uniform. The left hander has spent his career with the Los Angeles Angels, putting up an unfortunate record of 19-45. However, there are years where he\u2019s been decent; in 2022, he had an ERA+ of 138. Sandoval\u2019s one of three<\/span> major starters<\/span><\/a> that the Red Sox are waiting for to return. Between him, <\/span>Kutter Crawford<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Tanner Houck<\/span><\/a>, he was projected to be the first to return. But there\u2019s been a setback.<\/span><\/p>\n

He was <\/span>supposed to make a start on Saturday<\/span><\/a> in Worcester, but was scratched due to bicep tightness. With Houck\u2019s timeline looking like the end of the year at best and Crawford being <\/span>shut down for the time being<\/span><\/a>, the hope is for Sandoval to bounce back quickly. But the update on that will have to wait for now.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span>Juan Valera\u00a0<\/b><\/h2>\n

Highly touted prospect <\/span>Juan Valera<\/span><\/a> was taken out early in the Greenville Drive\u2019s game last Thursday. In a <\/span>weird game<\/span><\/a> against the Bowling Green Hot Rods (in which the backup catcher pitched the last three innings), Valera left after the first inning. However, contrary to what it seemed like at the moment, the injury is not serious. The 100th best prospect <\/span>according to Baseball America<\/span><\/a> suffered elbow inflammation and avoided serious damage, being placed on the IL for two weeks. The flame-throwing 19 year old is one of the most coveted prospects in a <\/span>stacked Greenville Drive squad<\/span><\/a>, so the more he\u2019s around, the better they are.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, those aren\u2019t the only four injured. Crawford and Houck, as mentioned, are out some time. Oviedo got upgraded from the 15 to the 60 day IL with his right flexor strain injury. <\/span>Tyler Uberstine<\/span><\/a> is on the IL in Worcester with right shoulder soreness. The pitching depth has surely taken a lot of hits this early in the season. The Red Sox have a test on that part of their team over the next few weeks to see if it can stand strong.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

(Top Image Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In any sport for any team, injuries are a major concern. The good thing with baseball is that the season is 162 games. The assumption is if it\u2019s not Tommy John or tearing a ligament, the player will return this season. In the case of the Red Sox however, it\u2019s a lot of injuries to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5767,"featured_media":119967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,2,1071,35],"tags":[240,29434,5834,650],"class_list":["post-119929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-redsox","category-featured","category-mlb","category-news","tag-boston-red-sox","tag-justin-slaten","tag-patrick-sandoval","tag-sonny-gray"],"modified_by":"Matthew Nethercott, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119929","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5767"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119929"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119929\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":119970,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119929\/revisions\/119970"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119929"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119929"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119929"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}