BOSTON -- When the Boston Red Sox returned home from a five-game road trip Wednesday, injured reliever Carson Smith was there to greet them, a sign of a soon-to-be-shifting landscape in the Boston bullpen.
Smith was sidelined in spring training with a forearm strain, and will throw a bullpen session at Fenway Park on Thursday. He then is expected to see action in back-to-back games at Double-A Portland on Friday and Saturday. If all goes well, the righty could be activated in time for the beginning of a three-game series at the Chicago White Sox on Monday.