Tapia (oblique) threw 20 pitches in a simulated game Friday afternoon and consistently kept his fastball in the 97-98 mph range, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.
The encouraging outing marked Tapia's first appearance since straining his oblique March 8. The amount of time the right-hander has missed has likely eliminated any chance of making the Opening Day roster. Tapia, who posted a 2.08 ERA across 4.1 innings in his first five big-league appearances with the Red Sox last season, could definitely log time in the majors at some point in the 2021 campaign.