The Boston Red Sox have sent right-hander Johan Oviedo on a rehabilitation assignment to Triple-A Worcester, giving the 28-year-old his first game action since late March after a season-long battle with a right flexor strain, via the MLB transaction log.
Oviedo is scheduled to pitch Thursday for the WooSox, the fourth-to-last day of the minor-league regular season.
The assignment is the latest step in a comeback that began in Fort Myers and has now brought him back into the organization’s late-season pitching mix alongside Tanner Houck and Garrett Crochet.
Boston acquired Oviedo from the Pittsburgh Pirates last December in a five-player deal that sent outfield prospect Jhostynxon Garcia and right-hander Jesus Travieso to Pittsburgh. The Red Sox envisioned him as a starter.
Instead, he lost an open rotation spot in spring training to Connelly Early and made only one regular-season appearance: 3 2/3 innings of relief on March 30 in Houston, when he allowed four earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts.
His fastball sat around 93 mph, well below the 95.5 mph he averaged the year before.
Two days later he woke up unable to flex his throwing arm. An MRI revealed a flexor strain. After a visit with Dr. Keith Meister — who performed Oviedo’s Tommy John surgery in the fall of 2023 — the club shut him down from throwing for six weeks.
Surgery was avoided, but the 6-foot-6, 275-pound Cuban spent more than five months rebuilding. He was transferred to the 60-day injured list on April 14.
Oviedo returned to Fenway last weekend, greeted teammates he had not seen in months, and said he was “super pumped” to pitch again.
He had already completed live batting-practice sessions and a bullpen.
Multiple rehab outings are expected before Boston considers activating him. A late-season bullpen role is more realistic than a start.
“As a player, you always have dreams of how your season is going to look,” Oviedo said. “But that’s already in the past. Trying to just focus on the present, stack good days, and check boxes.”
Interim manager Chad Tracy framed the assignment as part of a broader push to get arms healthy while the club is still playing meaningful games.
Whether Oviedo reaches Fenway before October depends on how the elbow responds in Worcester. For a pitcher who has barely been seen since Opening Week, Thursday is the first real test.
