Shane Victorino’s return from hamstring injury slowed due to bout of the flu

By Apr 7, 2014, 11:15 PM EDT
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Red Sox outfielder Shane Victorino was forced to begin the season on the 15-day disabled list due to a right hamstring strain and it sounds like he won’t be ready when he’s first eligible on April 15.

Victorino hasn’t suffered a setback with his hamstring, but he hasn’t been able to do much recently due to a nasty bout of the flu. According to Alex Speier of WEEI.com, Red Sox manager John Farrell said Victorino did some cardio work and received treatment today. The hope is that they’ll have a better idea about a possible minor league rehab assignment by the end of the week.

Jackie Bradley, Jr. was originally ticketed for the minors before Victorino’s injury, but he could make it a tough choice for the Red Sox if he continues to swing a hot bat.

Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN on opening day

Associated PressMar 23, 2023, 12:09 AM EDT
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Roger Clemens will be an analyst for ESPN when the defending World Series champion Houston Astros host the Chicago White Sox on opening day.

Clemens made four appearances on last year’s KayRod Cast with Michael Kay and Alex Rodriguez. He will be stepping in on March 30 for David Cone, who will be doing the New York Yankees opener against the San Francisco Giants on YES Network.

“Roger has been sort of a friend of ours for the last year, so to speak, he’s in. He’s been engaged, knowledgeable and really present,” said ESPN Vice President of Production Phil Orlins. “You know, whatever past may be, he’s still tremendously engaged and he really brought that every time he was with us.”

Clemens was a seven-time Cy Young winner but his career after baseball has been tainted by allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. He is a Houston native and pitched for the Astros for three seasons.

Orlins said that with the rules changes and pitch clock, it is important to have a pitcher in the booth with Karl Ravech and Eduardo Perez.

“We don’t feel like we have to have the dynamic of Eduardo with a pitcher, but we certainly think that works. Throw in the added factor of rule changes and it is better to have a batter-pitcher perspective,” Orlins said.

Orlins did not say if this would open the door for future opportunities for Clemens as an ESPN analyst.