12:20 pm: Pivettas flexor strain is mild, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow tells reporters (including ). The right-hander could come off the IL as soon he Rob Dibble Jersey is eligible, barring any setbacks. In the meantime, the Red Sox will skip Pivettas turn in the rotation when off days allow and fill in the gaps with either or . 11:56 am: The Red Sox have placed starting pitcher on the 15-day injured list with a right flexor strain, the team announced. The IL stint is retroactive to April 6. has been recalled from Triple-A Worcester to fill Pivettas spot on the active roster. Its been a rough day for the Red Sox so far. Earlier this morning, manager revealed that shortstop is headed for an appointment with orthopedic surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache due to . His 2024 season could be in jeopardy. The po sibility of losing Story and Pivetta will loom large over the Red Soxs home opener today at Fenway Park. Elbow problems are always worrisome, especially for pitchers, and especially given the recent rash of injuries to star hurlers like , , and . Pivetta was expected to take the mound tomorrow against the Orioles. Now, he is not eligible to rejoin the Red Sox until April 20. There is currently no timeline for his return. However, its getting hard to hear the words flexor strain and not prepare for the worst. Twins right-hander recently underwent . Rays righty mi sed most of the 2023 season and remains on the IL after last May. At the time, he hoped to be back for the stretch run in August and September, but eventually, he needed to repair his elbow. To make things worse, flexor tendon injuries often cooccur with UCL injuries. Dodgers starter initially landed on the IL with a in June 2022; two months later, for Tommy John. A perennial breakout candidate, Pivetta, 31, often underperforms his advanced metrics; he has a career 4.81 ERA and 4.00 SIERA. Still, he has blo somed into a reliable arm for the Red Sox, to sing 498 1/3 innings with a 4.26 ERA and 6.2 FanGraphs WAR since 2020. He has pitched at least 140 innings in each of the past three seasons, and his only previous trips to the IL were due to COVID-19 protocols in 2021. The righty looked especially sharp in his first two starts this season, giving up a lone earned run while striking out 13 and walking just one over 11 innings of work. The Red Sox, already without , will be hard-pre sed to replace Pivetta in the rotation if his flexor strain proves to be serious. For his part, Pivettas injury could not have come at a worse moment. He is set to reach free agency for the first time this offseason. Hal Mcrae Jersey