Corey Kluber to begin rehab assignment Friday with hope of returning this season

Red Sox

Kluber is currently on the 60-day IL with shoulder inflammation.

The Boston Red Sox could be gaining reinforcements to aid in their playoff push as the final month of the season begins.

Red Sox pitcher Corey Kluber will begin a rehab assignment this week, per MassLive’s Sean McAdam. This assignment will commence on Friday, where Kluber will reportedly start Triple-A Worcester’s game against the Gwinnett Stripers.

The Red Sox placed Kluber on the 15-day injury list with right shoulder inflammation on June 21. After little success in an earlier rehab stint, Kluber was shut down on July 29 and transferred to the 60-day IL on Aug. 25 to make room on the 40-man roster for recently-acquired relief pitcher Zack Weiss. 

McAdam reports that Kluber tossed two innings of live batting practice at Tropicana Field on Thursday, and he is aiming to make a return to Boston before the season’s end.

“I thought [batting practice] went well,” Kluber told McAdam. “It was a good step.”

It’s been a rough season for Kluber, the two-time Cy Young winner who started for the Red Sox on opening day. Since then, he compiled a 6.26 ERA in nine starts, encouraging the team to demote him to the bullpen. He then raised his ERA to 7.04 with a 1.636 WHIP before the Red Sox put him on the IL. 

Kluber did indeed suffer inflammation in his shoulder, McAdam reports, meaning that his stint on the IL was not due to a phantom injury. McAdam also reports that the current plan for the Red Sox is to keep Kluber in the bullpen, but he knows that those plans can change.

“I don’t want to worry about [roles] or that kind of stuff,” Kluber told McAdam. I don’t want to get ahead of myself.”

McAdam noted that the Red Sox truly value Kluber’s clubhouse presence, as he’s embraced a role as a mentor and teammate. Garrett Whitlock credited him for helping him adjust to a role as a starter before he returned to the bullpen. If Kluber returns to Boston, it’s easy to envision him continuing to help Whitlock and other young pitchers on the Red Sox embrace the major leagues.

At one point in the season, it seemed as if Kluber would not pitch again for the Red Sox. But now, it seems as if he has an opportunity to return and make every memory of this season’s beginning disappear.