BOSTON - Saturday's pregame press conference with interim manager Torey Lovullo sounded like that of a team out of the playoff race.
After going over one of the pleasant story lines from the second half of the season in Rich Hill, the discussion turned to how players who have been or are being shut down are treated as the season winds down.
Every situation is different - especially when comparing pitchers and hitters. Reliever Junichi Tazawa, for example, is one pitcher who was shut down for the season on Sept. 15.
The 29-year-old Tazawa threw 58 2/3 inning for the Sox this season, posting his worst numbers (4.14 ERA AND 1.33 WHIP) since he was given a big bullpen role in 2012.
But Tazawa wasn't shut down due to injury, and therefore didn't just stop baseball activities altogether. We hear about players "ramping up" all the time when coming back from an injury, but what Tazawa is doing, according to Lovullo, is "ramping down".
"Our medical team and some of our pitching experts have a plan in place where you ramp down," Lovullo said of Tazawa. "Kind of work yourself backwards. You just don't abruptly stop. So he's right in the middle of that progression."
For somebody dealing with an injury like Joe Kelly, who is also shut down after shoulder pain forced his season to end early, the "ramp down" process could be much different.
Hanley Ramirez was also shut down due to a shoulder injury, and while he is no longer partaking in baseball activities - batting practice, fielding at first base - he's getting treatment and therapy on the shoulder.
"So he's behind the scenes conditioning, doing all the stuff here, spending time with the trainers just to assist that shoulder," Lovullo said. "And that's really the hindrance here, it's the right shoulder."
In a week, the Red Sox season will end and players will go back to their respective homes - whether that's Florida, Arizona, Japan, etc. There won't be a Red Sox training staff looking over them and watching their every move, but they will have set each player up with all the information and directions necessary for a successful offseason. It's an important time for these players, especially the ones rehabbing from an injury.
"Our medical team works very, very hard to provide a plan for the offseason," Lovullo said. "They get in touch with their local trainers, individual local trainers, and the plan is in place from a lot of different angles. So we know that Hanley will be down in the Ft. Lauderdale area and he's going to be working to stay on that program as are all the players. When we have a meeting with the players, they understand the importance of that. All of our players walking out of here on Sunday will have something in place for the offseason getting them ready for 2016."