Boxberger, who's yet to make his spring debut, is inching closer to game action, the Tampa Bay Times reports. "Box is doing fine, we're just kind of holding him out, we want to make sure with the injuries that he had last year (core muscle repair, oblique) we want to make sure he's ready to go, and then when he is, get him a pretty healthy workload leading up to opening day," Rays manager Kevin Cash said.
The 28-year-old reliever is being handled with extra caution this spring after an injury-marred 2016 that saw him sidelined for an extended period with an abdominal injury suffered in spring training. Boxberger also was felled by an oblique injury after just one appearance upon his return, so the team is intent on making sure he's ready to pitch without restrictions before throwing him into live action. The former closer will play on a one-year, $1.6 million contract this season and presumably be primarily deployed as an eighth-inning option after losing the ninth-inning role to Alex Colome last season.