Bradley placed on 10-day DL with sprain; Marrero re-called

CLEVELAND -- On Tuesday night, the Red Sox were sufficiently relieved that x-rays on Jackie Bradley Jr.'s left thumb. But that doesn't mean he won't miss any time.

After Bradley returned to Boston early Wednesday morning to undergo an MRI, the Sox placed him on the 10-day DL with a sprained left thumb. To fill his spot on the roster, the Red Sox recalled infielder Deven Marrero.

Bradley injured the thumb in a slide into home plate in the seventh inning of Tuesday's 9-1 win over the Cleveland Indians. In attempting to slide around Indians catcher Yan Gomes, Bradley rolled the thumb as he reached around Gomes to tag the plate.

"The encouraging thing,'' said John Farrell, "is that through the X-rays and MRI imaging, there are no tears, no fractures. He's immobilized currently in a splint and that will be over the next 5-7 days. Hopefully at that point, we're able to get some range of motion back in there and strengthening. You're always hopeful at the time of the injury that you're going to avoid the DL; unfortunately in this case, we're not going to and we have to do what's right.''

Bradley was expected to rejoin the team in Cleveland Wednesday afternoon, though with just two games remaining on this abbreviated road trip and occupying a spot on the DL, he will remain in Boston. Farrell acknowledged that with Bradley in a split for as many as seven days, it was unlikely that Bradley will be ready to be activated in 10 days, though it isn't expected to be much longer than that.

With Bradley sidelined, it's likely that Farrell will go with a platoon of Chris Young and Brock Holt in left, with Andrew Benintendi sliding over to cover center.

Young was signed after 2015 for his ability to hit lefthanded pitching, something he did well a season ago. But this year, Young had a slash line of just .205/.319/.295 against lefties.

"It's been an oddity,'' said Farrell. "Certain years are outliers where the reverse splits take over. In spring training, if you had asked me if, at nearly the first of September, he'd be "one and four" (one homer and four RBI) against lefthanders, I'd say you're crazy. But that's kind of where he's at right now. We"ll continue to get him at-bats against lefthanders because there's a track record and a career-long strength of his. It's an odd situation.''

The presence of Marrero will free Holt to play left, with Marrero serving as the primary backup infielder.

Farrell said Bryce Brentz, who has had a breakout year at Triple A, was another call-up considered, although Brentz is not currently on the 40-man roster.

"He was talked about,'' said Farrell. "He's having a strong year in Pawtucket, but we're also looking at the versatility on the infield and stick with the versatility we have.''

Rusney Castillo's promotion would have been problematic since, by putting him back on the 40-man roster, his contract would have begun counting on the major league payroll and taken the Red Sox beyond the CBT (competitive balance tax). But that was made moot by Castillo recently being put on the DL at Pawtucket with a left knee injury.