ST. PETERSBURG — RHP Brad Boxberger has been cleared to resume throwing, but the injury that has him on the shelf to start the season is not the lat strain he suffered early in spring training. This injury is a right flexor strain, which is the tendon on the inside of the elbow.
Boxberger said he felt the discomfort while throwing live batting practice March 22, a session that was meant to determine if Boxberger was past his lat issue.
"I could tell I was a little off. I didn't feel right," he said Thursday. "I didn't think anything of it, but apparently they thought it was more than I thought it was. It's feeling good now and no issues moving forward."
An MRI exam reveled only tendinitis and after waiting two weeks for the pain to go away, Boxberger resumed his throwing program Wednesday with the sock toss, the first step in building arm strength toward throwing a baseball.
RAYS GET SLAMMED: Starter Blake Snell shows he has much to do about some things.
Boxberger doesn't have a timetable for his return, but he basically has to go through an entire spring training. He won't return until at least sometime in May. "If everything goes well, we'll see," he said. "There's really no timetable. … Got to make sure I get right, that I'm 100 percent when I come back."
Quote of the day
"Everything is frustrating in this sport. That's part of it."
RHP Brad Boxberger, when asked if he was frustrated to begin another injury rehab
Starting with a bang
LF Colby Rasmus collided with CF Ryan Boldt on the first play of the game Thursday but jumped up and continued on with the start of his minor-league rehab assignment with Class A Charlotte.
Rasmus went 0-for-3 with an RBI groundout in his first three trips to the plate.
RAYS TAKEAWAYS: Three things from the loss to the Blue Jays.
Miscellany
• C Luke Maile, designated for assignment Sunday to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, was claimed off waivers Thursday by the Blue Jays and assigned to Triple-A Buffalo.
• Former Rays hitting coach Derek Shelton returned to the Trop as the Blue Jays' quality control coach.
• Blue Jays RHP Marcus Stroman shut down the Rays with the help of three inning-ending double plays.
• Rays RF Steven Souza Jr. had three more hits, including a pair of doubles.
• Rays RHP Tommy Hunter struck out three in 1⅓ innings of relief.
Rays TV coverage in trouble on Spectrum
Rays coverage on Spectrum could be interrupted if the cable television provider does not reach an agreement by 2:59 a.m. Saturday (11:59 p.m. Friday PDT) with Fox Sports, the team announced.
The Rays released a statement: "We are aware that Spectrum (formerly known as Bright House) and Fox Sports are in discussions to continue their agreement to broadcast Rays baseball. We have urged both parties to reach a speedy conclusion to these discussions so that fans subscribing to Spectrum can continue to enjoy Rays baseball games and other Rays programming."