Smith (forearm) has been cleared medically to pick up a baseball and begin a throwing program, the Providence Journal reports. He's been sidelined with a strain in his right flexor mass.
Manager John Farrell said Smith has responded favorably to treatment and the recovery timelines have been on the short end. Three-to-five days for the swelling to go down, it was three days. Ten-to-fourteen days shutdown period before initiating a throwing program, it's been 10 days. It's all positive for Smith, but there's still no timetable for his return. Players with his type of injury have taken as little as a month or more than two months to come back.