The Boston Red Sox certainly could have used Tyler Thornburg out of the bullpen during their Opening Day loss, but he likely won't make his long-anticipated team debut until around the start of May.
Thornburg is continuing to work his way back from shoulder surgery, and Red Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told WEEI on Friday that the reliever is still "maybe a month away" from coming off the disabled list.
The 29-year-old has been brought along slowly this spring and recently tossed a 15-pitch live batting practice.
Acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers 15 months ago for Travis Shaw, Mauricio Dubon, and Josh Pennington, Thornburg has yet to throw a regular-season pitch for the Red Sox and underwent surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome in June.
He's eventually expected to play an important role in a Red Sox bullpen that imploded Thursday while allowing six runs in the eighth inning of a 6-4 loss to Tampa Bay.
Thornburg posted a 2.15 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and 90 strikeouts in 67 innings with the Brewers in 2016.
