HOUSTON -- It was clear the Red Sox didn't want to go this route, but ultimately they couldn't avoid it.
Just prior to the Sox' game against the Astros at Minute Maid Park Friday night, Mookie Betts was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a left abdominal strain. The move is retroactive to May 29, which allows Betts to return as soon as June 8. He hasn't played since Saturday.
The Red Sox are replacing Betts on the 25-man roster with Pawtucket first baseman Sam Travis, with manager Alex Cora citing the flurry of lefties his team is scheduled to face in the coming week.
Betts did take swings both after Thursday night's game and Friday, although when talking with WEEI.com before the second game of the series he emphasized that all parties were proceeding with caution.
"Hitting is the process we're going to take our time with," he said. "It felt alright. We will take it slow. You don't want to push it and make it bad."
After the Red Sox' 7-3 loss to the Astros, Betts elaborated on his status.
"It's better than I expected, but it's just one of those things on its way to heal in its time," he said, suggesting swinging was his only issue right now. "Try and fight through something, or … it's not enough pain for me to not play. It's more of, this is one of those things where, if you go out and take one swing, you can be out basically the rest of the year. So I have to let it heal and try to avoid ending the year."
When asked during his media session Friday why there had been a hesitation to put Betts on the disabled list, Cora said, "You have to trust the player, that's the most important thing. With him, obviously, with Mookie, we trusted him a few times early in the season and when we said he was going to be ready he was ready. Probably it's taking longer than expected but I think him moving around yesterday, doing soft toss and now hitting, I do feel it's going to be sooner rather than later and we'll stay away from him."
