BOSTON -- Following an energizing walk-off win on Friday night, the Red Sox woke up on Saturday to bad news on rookie starter Hunter Dobbins. The right-hander will undergo season-ending surgery after he tore his right ACL just five outs into his start on Friday.
“Tough,” manager Alex Cora said. “He put himself on the map, right? He did a good job for us. When it happened, I thought [it was] something minor, but talking to him, he felt it right away. He's been through that before. So [he’ll have] surgery, [he’ll] rehab the right way and be ready whenever he's ready.
“Obviously not cutting corners on the rehab, that's the most important thing. We know we have a good one. He's a good big league pitcher, and whenever he comes back, he's going to help us.”
In the second inning Friday, Dobbins ran to cover first on a groundout by Chandler Simpson. First baseman Abraham Toro fielded the ball and threw to Dobbins, who had to jump to cleanly complete the play. After coming down on the bag, Dobbins hobbled down the first-base line and grabbed his right leg, prompting trainers and Cora to come out.
Dobbins made his way to the mound, threw one warmup pitch and left the game.
“I’ve torn my ACL on this knee before, and it was the same feeling,” Dobbins said. “Kind of some denial went into it, tried to go into the warmup pitch, felt the same sensation again. So at that point, I knew what it was.”
Dobbins first tore his ACL playing high school football when an opposing player dived at his knee trying to make a tackle. The right-hander said he underwent surgery in October or November after that injury, and he was eager to get back in time for baseball season in the spring.
This time, the 25-year-old feels he’ll be more fully focused on his rehab with the weight of his job and wanting to get back to his teammates waiting on the other side.
After undergoing surgery, Dobbins expects to spend a couple of weeks at home to begin his recovery process. But once he’s cleared for movement, he hopes to get back to Boston so he can be around his teammates.
If there’s any need to confirm Dobbins’ desire to get back to his team, Friday night served as a good indicator of his commitment. Despite being at a nearby hospital and inside an MRI machine, Dobbins was locked in on the remainder of the game all the way through to Ceddanne Rafaela’s walk-off two-run homer.
“Outside of the big disappointment of not being able to pitch this year, missing the home run last night was pretty tough,” Dobbins said. “I was actually in the MRI machine, and they were giving me score updates in between each one. And then right after the last one they were like, ‘We think you’d like to hear this. Y’all just won by a walk-off.’ So that was pretty cool to hear that the guys picked me up that way.”
Dobbins had been activated off the IL for Friday's start after being sidelined with a right elbow strain since late June. The rookie has posted a 4.13 ERA in 13 games (11 starts) this season.
In his place, the Red Sox called up right-hander Richard Fitts from Triple-A Worcester for his fourth stint with the big league club this year. Fitts is 1-3 with a 4.28 ERA over 33 2/3 innings.
“Somebody has to just jump in,” Cora said. “And we’ve got capable guys. Fitts is here now. We'll set up the rotation after the [All-Star] break, probably with him in mind, and we'll go from there."