Red Sox aiming for Ranger Suarez to return on homestand this week

Ranger Suarez is tracking toward a return to the Red Sox’ rotation this week, interim manager Chad Tracy said Saturday, though the team has not chosen a day.

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Out with a strained left groin, Suarez is eligible to come off the injured list on Tuesday. Him pitching that night against the Orioles is in play, per Tracy. But the Sox might prefer to wait until the Blue Jays series over the weekend — after an offday on Thursday.

Either way, barring a setback, Suarez is due back soon.

“The first step is figuring out, can he pitch on the day he’s eligible? Do we feel comfortable with that?” Tracy said. “Do we want him to pitch on that day? Do we want to push it to after the offday? Do we want to push it a few? So it’s just figuring out where he’s at as far as how he’s feeling and deciding what we want to do from there.”

As Tracy spoke at Fenway Park before the Red Sox hosted the Rays, Suarez threw outside in a light rain. 

Because he was shut down from throwing for only a handful of days after getting hurt during his July 5 start against the Angels, Suarez won’t need a rehabilitation assignment or similar tuneup. And because the All-Star break soaked up some of his minimum 15 days sidelined, a return Tuesday would mean Suarez missing just one start.

“We still got a day or two to figure out what’s going to go on there,” Tracy said. “Obviously, things are going a lot better.”

Payton Tolle is slated to make his second-half debut Monday or Tuesday, depending on Suarez’s status, Tracy said.

Connelly Early (left elbow inflammation) trails Suarez on the comeback trail but is playing catch from up to 90 feet, which represents active progress.

One of the other variables in the Sox’ pitching plans: Brayan Bello remains available as a long reliever, Tracy said.

(Since Bello is built up as a starting pitcher, he also could slot into the rotation if needed.)

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Bello is in an unusual spot. On one hand, the Sox would like to get him straightened out so he can be the highly effective starter he was last year. On the other, they have to win games — especially as they find themselves suddenly in the American League wild-card race in the leadup to the Aug. 3 trade deadline.

It’s a balance, but there is a clear priority. That means a messy schedule for Bello, who has pitched once in 16 days.

“It’s a big league season. You’re trying to win,” Tracy said. “You lose two starters [Suarez and Early] in a span of a week and a half, you have to do what needs to be done to make sure that we can win big league games. … You’re getting closer to a point where you get some of these people back, and we’ll figure it out from there. But sometimes a big league season just forces you into having to do stuff to make sure that you’re covered.”

Isiah Kiner-Falefa is due for another round of imaging Monday, he said, to see how the stress reaction in his left forearm is healing.

His hope is the progress will be significant enough that he’ll be cleared to start swinging. But he realizes that might take another couple of weeks.

In the meantime, as much as he is itching to get back, he has enjoyed watching the healthy Sox turn the season around. He said his pain is way less than it was in June — and thus, he believes he could jump back into the lineup now — but the team’s success makes it easier to stay patient.

With Anthony Seigler at second base and Tsung-Che Cheng helping hold down shortstop, he doesn’t need to rush it.

“Right now, there’s no point,” Kiner-Falefa said.

Trevor Story, nearly two months removed from sports hernia surgery, said a minor league rehab assignment “feels close,” but he didn’t want to commit to a timeline … Tracy on the enthusiastic Fenway crowd Friday: “Everybody notices that for sure. I mean, it’s a drastic difference from where it was, the way things were going [when the team was playing poorly]” … Tolle and Early returned from the All-Star break to upgraded locker assignments in the clubhouse. Instead of getting a side-wall obstructed view — because of a large pillar — they are now along the back wall, next to Garrett Crochet, their fellow lefthander. Their old cubbies are assigned to Bello and Eduardo Rivera.

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