After experiencing some soreness on Wednesday, right-hander Johan Oviedo is heading to the 15-day injured list with a right elbow strain. The move is retroactive to March 31.
“I know the last day in Houston, he came in sore,” Manager Alex Cora said. “Went through all the testing, got some X-rays, they were kind of like inconclusive, got the MRI, and it showed what it showed. Talking to Oviedo, too, it kind of came out of nowhere.”
The Red Sox acquired Oviedo from the Pirates as part of a five-player deal that sent No. 3 prospect Jhostynxon Garcia to Pittsburgh.
The 6-foot-6 righty had an up-and-down spring, posting a 4.91 ERA over 14.2 innings across five outings. He allowed 14 hits, eight earned runs, walked eight, struck out 17, and hit two batters, with opponents hitting .259 against him. He showed a noticeable dip in velocity as spring training went on, which coincided with some of his late struggles and played a role in him starting the season in the bullpen rather than as the fifth starter – a role that went to Connelly Early.
In his regular-season debut in Boston’s 8-1 loss to the Houston Astros on Monday, he allowed six hits (two home runs) and four earned runs across 3.2 innings of bulk relief. His fastball velocity (93.0 mph) was down 2.5 mph from his 2025 average (95.5).
“If you start looking at the trends of velocity, he had that good one in Dunedin [on March 2], he hit 98-99 [mph]. Then, after that, he started trending down. So maybe that’s the reason.”
Oviedo, who missed the entire 2024 season due to Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, returned in August of last season and pitched in nine games. Before that, he hadn’t pitched since September 27, 2023. He will be examined in Texas by Dr. Keith Meister, who performed the surgery in November 2023, to compare his latest MRI to previous ones.
“We just have to be patient with it and wait for that to happen,” added Cora.
