Brian Johnson's elbow injury is one more bit of bad news for the Red Sox this season.
The Red Sox have two veteran starters on the DL -- Clay Buchholz, into nearly mid-September, and Rick Porcello, who is expected to miss only two weeks.
That represents an opportunity for the Sox to audition some of their younger starters with an eye toward 2016. That afforded Henry Owens a chance to make his major league debut Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium, and it was supposed to offer Brian Johnson a chance to return to the big leagues and follow up his major league debut, made last month in Houston.
Alas, Johnson has come down with a sore elbow, and while the Red Sox don't believe it's something that should require a surgical procedure -- much less Tommy John surgery -- they're going to treat him conservatively.
That means instead of getting another handful of starts in the big leagues this month, Johnson will be getting treatment and attempting to overcome this setback.
For a team searching for ways to get better next season, that represents a lost opportunity.