BOSTON — The Red Sox may be dealing with their first significant injury of the 2026 season.
Boston placed right-hander Johan Oviedo on the injured list Friday morning with an elbow sprain. While he’s hopeful it’s nothing serious, Oviedo acknowledged the outcome could be less than ideal. He told reporters the elbow began to lock up in the days following his season debut earlier this week.
“When I woke up in the morning, I couldn’t bend or flex my arm when I was getting out of bed,” Oviedo said.
The discomfort lingered into the weekend, prompting the Red Sox to shut Oviedo down. He will undergo imaging and is expected to meet with Dr. Keith Meister on Tuesday, the orthopedic surgeon who performed his Tommy John surgery just 28 months ago.
“Just waiting on a positive answer from the doctor,” Oviedo said. “Still don’t know the results. It’s all speculation. It’s just being positive about the results.
“The last few years have been a roller-coaster so right now, all I’m trying to tell myself and family members is to be positive.”
Oviedo said the discomfort in his elbow feels different from what led to his Tommy John surgery in 2023, but the lack of range of motion is concerning.
“It feels more restricted,” Oviedo said. “T.J. was more something you could work through during the season. Right now, it’s more that I can’t literally flex or bend it all the way. It’s better, but when I try to bring it up, it feels restricted. The range of motion just isn’t there. There’s some pain, but it mostly feels locked.”
The Red Sox acquired Oviedo in a six-player deal that sent outfield prospect Jhostynxon García to Pittsburgh.
He made his team debut Monday in Houston, piggybacking off Ranger Suárez, but his velocity was down and he struggled. The 6-foot-6 right-hander allowed four runs on six hits, including two home runs to José Altuve, while walking one and striking out three over 3 2/3 innings.
Oviedo said he initially felt fine after the outing, but things changed when he woke up the next day in Houston.
“It came out of nowhere, but if you start looking at the trends of velocity, he had that good (spring outing) in Dunedin, where he was 98-99 mph (on March 2). Then after that, it started trending down,” said Alex Cora. “Maybe that’s the reason.”
“When I woke up in the morning, I couldn’t bend or flex my arm when I was getting out of bed,” Oviedo said.
Boston had hoped Oviedo would emerge as its No. 5 starter, but he was unable to secure the role in camp, opening the door for Connelly Early.
The young left-hander took advantage, turning in an effective outing Sunday in Cincinnati. While not dominant, Early worked 5 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts. He threw a career-high 96 pitches (61 strikes), mixing in a pair of wild pitches.
Early is scheduled to start Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park in the second game of the series against the Padres.
Craig Breslow has built considerable pitching depth over the past few seasons, and if Oviedo is sidelined for an extended period, the Red Sox have options on the way.
Both Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval are currently on the injured list and working their way back. Sandoval is expected to begin a rehab assignment Sunday, scheduled to throw four innings for Double-A Portland on the road against Somerset.
The left-hander is returning from left ulnar collateral ligament surgery (internal brace) that he underwent during the first half of the 2024 season, which caused him to miss all of 2025. The 29-year-old owns a 4.01 ERA in 107 career appearances (100 starts), all with the Angels from 2019–24.
There is no specific time table for when Sandoval will return to a big league mound.
“I think pretty close, we’re gonna have to take it outing by outing and, you know, see where the team thinks I am and where I am, and hopefully it matches up,” said Sandoval to Boston Sports Journal.
Crawford, meanwhile, is expected to begin a rehab assignment later this month, according to Cora. The right-hander is working back from right wrist surgery last July and also dealt with patellar tendinitis last season.
“He’s going to throw like an up/down thing Monday or Tuesday and then he’ll go out on a rehab assignment,” Cora said.
While Oviedo’s diagnosis remains unclear, Boston has two capable arms in Sandoval and Crawford who could step into multi-inning relief roles or potentially start if needed. Once activated, Sandoval is expected to be used as a long reliever.
Prior to the home opener, the Red Sox promoted right-hander Tyler Uberstine from Triple-A Worcester.
Uberstine last pitched for the WooSox during their three-game homestand at Polar Park, where he made his first start of the season, allowing four earned runs on six hits, including two home runs, with two walks over 3 2/3 innings.
The 6-foot-1 right-hander has overcome significant adversity in his professional career, undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2023 before returning late in 2024 and pitching in the Arizona Fall League.
He followed that with a strong 2025 campaign, making nine starts for Double-A Portland and posting a 3.64 ERA with 35 strikeouts before earning a promotion to Worcester. With the WooSox, he made 19 appearances (15 starts), going 6-4 with a 3.56 ERA across 91 innings, striking out 102 while walking 37.
Triston Casas is set to resume hitting off a tee on Monday after the Red Sox temporarily shut him down due to an intercostal strain — an injury unrelated to his recovery from a patellar tendon tear.
Casas has dealt with rib issues before, appearing in just 63 games in 2024 after tearing cartilage in his rib cage on a swing in Pittsburgh. This latest soreness also originated while swinging the bat.
“He felt it, we slowed him down, and now we’re ready to start swinging again,” Cora said.
