Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale underwent another MRI on the stress fracture in his right rib cage. It showed “some healing,” Manager Alex Cora told reporters, including MLB.com’s Ian Browne, in Port Charlotte, Florida, on Friday.

Browne added on Twitter, “There is still no timetable for when he starts throwing. It will be symptom based.”

Thursday marked five weeks since Sale suffered the injury during a live batting practice he was throwing at Florida Gulf Coast University during the MLB lockout.

Sale told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo on Tuesday that he hopes to throw next week.

“For now, the plan is probably sometime early next week,” Sale said. “I think they want to get me past a certain point numbers-wise with weeks, because with bones, it’s probably scheduled out. I think they want to get me to a certain number before I start doing that just to really give it some time.”

JAMES PAXTON was scheduled to throw a short bullpen session Friday, Cora said. Paxton has thrown a few short sessions (around 10 pitches) in recent weeks and is ahead of schedule in his recovery from Tommy John surgery.

Paxton had surgery at the end of last April, meaning he’s about 11 months removed. It took Sale a total of 161/2 months to return after having surgery in March 2020; Cora thinks Paxton will return in a shorter timetable.

“Hate to compare situations, but we can put it this way: compared to where Chris was and where James is right now, he’s a little bit ahead of him at this point last year,” Cora said.

When the Red Sox signed Paxton as a free agent in December, the club expected him to return at some point in the second half of the season. Now, that timetable might be moved up a little bit. It would not be out of the question to see the veteran join Boston’s rotation at some point in June (or maybe even earlier).

“I saw him playing catch the other day,” Cora said. “He did a lot of things in the offseason. With those guys, there were ways to communicate through (physical therapists) and all that. He made some adjustments as far as the way he lifted and all that stuff and you can tell. His mechanics are a little bit different, too, just to ease the stress on the shoulder and the elbow. But it’s the way the ball is coming out of his hand. You can tell with these guys when rehab is going well.”

LEFTY RELIEVER Josh Taylor (back) has officially been ruled out for Opening Day, Cora said Thursday. He’s expected to be placed on the injured list soon.