The Red Sox gambled that Shane Drohan would either not be taken in the Rule 5 Draft or that if taken, it wouldn’t stick.

This strategy has apparently paid off, as club announced Wednesday that the Chicago White Sox returned the left-hander to them.

The southpaw, 25, is coming off February shoulder surgery. After beginning the season on the injured list, he began a rehab assignment last month. However, over 10 outings between Chicago’s rookie-level, High-A, and Triple-A clubs, Drohan allowed nine earned runs (10 total) on nine hits, issued eight walks, hit two batters, and struck out 15 in just 9.1 innings of work.

Under the Rule 5 guidelines, the White Sox would’ve been required to add Drohan to the active roster after his 30-day rehab window. Instead, they designated him for assignment last week, and when no other club claimed him, they offered him back to the Red Sox.

Selected by Boston in the fifth round of the 2020 draft, Drohan was dominant in Double-A Portland at the beginning of last season. Posting a 1.32 ERA over his first six starts (34 innings) earned him a promotion to Triple-A Worcester, but he struggled upon arrival, with a 6.47 ERA across 21 games (19 starts).

“Not much,” Alex Cora admitted when asked if he knew the plan for Drohan or what role they envision for him. “I haven’t talked to (Craig Breslow) or anybody about it. Honestly, no.”

“I haven’t had time to kind of dive in, I honestly haven’t been able to look under the hood just yet,” pitching coach Andrew Bailey told the Herald. “But I think there’s probably a lot of correlation between the injury and the lack of ability to be in the zone, and maybe some of the regression there.

“Getting players healthy is paramount, and taking a look at strike rate, walk rate, some damage component, taking a look at the peripherals on performance at a pitch-level, the movement profiles, and then creating environments to challenge them to get better.”