Red Sox righthanded pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka will miss at least his next start in the rotation, manager terry Francona said Saturday. Medical tests including a possible MRI and he will be evaluated throughout the week.

“We need to get him looked at physically,” said Francona. “He’s gonna get looked at by (Red Sox physician) Tom Gill. He’s going to get tests done. There’s a potential for MRIs. All of that information will be coming very soon.”

This season, Matsuzaka is 1-5 with an 8.23 ERA, and opponents are batting .378 against him. He hasn’t been able to pitch his way into the seventh inning yet this season, putting stress on the Sox bullpen.

John Smoltz will come off his rehabilitation to take Matsuzaka’s scheduled start on Thursday against the Washington Nationals.

“We don’t have to do something just to do something,” Francona said. “We wanted to take the time to make sure everyone understood that. Now we’re going to go slower and use proper judgment. When you take a guy out of the rotation, you take a guy out of the rotation to fix it.”

Britt Braudo is a Blast contributing editor and sports blogger for Blast Magazine. She can be reached at britt.braudo@gmail.com.