Since Justin Slaten went on the injured list on June 1, his recovery has been long and halting. It took weeks for the club to fully understand the nature of his injury, which was initially described as shoulder inflammation but turned out to be a result of a bone in his neck pressing against nerves and blood vessels.

Now, after weeks stuck in a holding pattern, Slaten is finally nearing a return.

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The Red Sox right-hander threw his first up-and-down bullpen session on Friday, a notable step forward after a series of successful one-inning bullpens earlier in the week. He will now face live hitters on Monday, and barring any setbacks he should be in line to begin a rehab assignment in the near future.

“Feeling really good,” Slaten said following Friday’s workout. “Last few bullpens I’ve been feeling really good, recovery has been great, so I’m happy with where I’m at.”

Prior to the injury Slaten was one of Boston’s top set-up men, and his return could provide the bullpen with a massive boost. The 27-year-old has posted a 3.47 ERA in 24 appearances, all but one of which have come in the seventh inning or later, and all but two of which have come with the game tied or with the Red Sox ahead.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora said he’s been encouraged by Slaten’s recent progress.

“Not too worried about how he feels, just worried bout his mechanics and pitch shapes, which is a great sign,” Cora said. “He’s doing really good.”

Slaten said that while his recovery has taken a long time, he appreciates that the team has made a point to get him back to full strength so that he doesn’t experience any setbacks upon his return. He said seeing the team thrive over the past two months has been exciting and he’s hopeful once activated he can contribute to the club’s playoff push.

“We want it to be like ‘no it’s completely gone and you’re coming back at 100%’ because obviously we know what position the team is in and we’ve got to make a push,” Slaten said. “So we wanted to make sure that everything was at 100% when I came back and that’s kind of where I’m feeling right now.”

Campbell a work in progress

Kristian Campbell has begun to heat up at the plate in Triple-A, but asked what he’s seen from the 23-year-old, Red Sox manager Alex Cora indicated Campbell still has progress to make before he’s ready to return to the big leagues.

“I’ve been watching at bats, and he’s producing, but there is still work to do down there,” Cora said.

What sort of things does he need to work on?

“The same things he struggled here with, pitch recognition, covering certain shapes of fastballs, and it’s hard because he’s not going to get that down there, he’s not. The velo here is harder, it’s faster, locations are on point here, with all due respect to the players down there, it’s a big gap,” Cora said. “It’s just one of those where we’ve got to keep working and he has to keep working and we’ll see what the future holds.”

Campbell has also gotten significant time at first base since his demotion to Worcester. Cora said he’s done “ok” and that every day he’s learning more about the position.

Injury updates

Tanner Houck (right elbow pronator strain) will undergo his Tommy John surgery on Monday. … Marcelo Mayer (sprained right wrist) has begun taking dry swings, but Cora said they still aren’t sure whether he’ll be able to return this season. … Cora said that Masataka Yoshida wasn’t in the lineup Friday because they’re still taking it easy with him as he works his way back from major offseason shoulder surgery. He said Yoshida will play two out of three and when he and all of the usual starters are all in the lineup, Ceddanne Rafaela will play second base. … Liam Hendriks (right hip inflammation) is playing catch up to 90 feet.