Red Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet hasn’t pitched since April and it doesn’t appear as though he’ll be back anytime soon. The left tells Tim Healey of The Boston Globe that he is targeting a return in time for the playoffs.
It’s been a confounding season for Crochet. He posted a 6.30 earned run average in his first six starts, significantly worse than the 2.59 ERA he posted last year. He hit the injured list in late April due to some inflammation in his throwing shoulder. It was thought to be a minor issue, with Crochet expressing confidence that he would be back after a minimum stint on the shelf. Instead, various setbacks have turned it into a frustrating odyssey for him. He said in June that he wouldn’t be back before the All-Star break. Now he has his sights set on October.
Since the issue has dragged on, there are compounding effects for the timeline. By missing so much time, Crochet will need a longer ramp-up once he is finally cleared to throw. Even if he were cleared to start that ramp-up soon, which doesn’t seem possible, it would take him six weeks or more to get into game shape. Six weeks from today would already be September, so Crochet is instead looking beyond that.
As Crochet has been trying to get healthy, the club has remarkably been succeeding without him. They are currently on a 14-game winning streak which has vaulted them into a Wild Card spot. Playing in October is now far more feasible than it seemed a few weeks ago.
“We’re trying to kind of, I suppose, reverse engineer it,” Crochet said of his plan. “I’m a goal-driven guy. If I see a deadline, I’m going to [expletive] meet it.” Crochet also addressed the question of how effective he would be after so much time off. “Worst-case scenario, I’m not ready. Second-worst-case scenario is I’m throwing, but it’s dog [expletive], like it was at the beginning of the year. I don’t want to be out there to be a warm body, especially with the way that the guys, the whole staff, has been performing.”
For the moment, the Sox have a rotation consisting of Sonny Gray, Payton Tolle, Jake Bennett and Patrick Sandoval. It seems likely that Ranger Suárez will be activated from the IL soon, perhaps even between games of today’s doubleheader. Eduardo Rivera and Brayan Bello are currently in the bullpen as long relief options. Connelly Early is also on the IL with an uncertain timeline but he is throwing, so perhaps he could be back in the mix in the near future. Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck and Johan Oviedo are other possibilities to come off the IL later this year.
If the Sox feel a bit trepidatious about that depth, they could perhaps look to add an arm or two before the August 3 deadline. Whether they do or not, it’s possible they have to make a tough decision in the future about going with a rusty Crochet or someone who has been healthier and more reliable. Crochet’s ceiling is undeniable. He was elite last year, finishing second to Tarik Skubal in American League Cy Young voting. But his shoulder has been a problem all year and it’s anyone’s guess what he could do after such a long layoff.
Perhaps a return as a reliever will be considered at some point, though Crochet doesn’t seem to be thinking about that now. He spoke to Healey about his return from another shoulder injury in 2023, but said that situation was different because he was just building up to being a one-inning reliever at that time. Presumably, that means he is still trying to come back as a starter here in 2026.
Time will tell how this season’s comeback plays out. For the future, it seems like Crochet’s contract status will already be impacted. As noted by Healey, Crochet’s deal contains an opt-out after 2030, but only if he doesn’t spend 120 days on the IL at any point for an injury related to his throwing arm. Also, there’s a 2032 club option worth $15MM, unlocked by the same 120-day criterion. He’ll hit that number on August 23.
Since that doesn’t seem to be possible, then it’s basically a lock that Crochet will lose that opt-out chance and the Sox will gain an extra year of control over him. That club option will be his age-33 season but $15MM is mid-rotation starter money, so it would be a bargain for the Sox as long as he’s healthy and reasonably effective at that time. Crochet doesn’t seem too worried about losing the chance to reach the open market.
“It sucks, but I mean, what’s the worst thing that happens? I’m in Boston for another year? Which is pretty good. This is a place that I wanted to be,” Crochet said. “That was a clause that was kind of helping the team mitigate the risk, I suppose. And they knew that there was risk. I knew that there was risk. Last year, it’s like, am I outperforming [his salary]? Or does it matter? And now I get hurt, and it’s like, I’m glad that I secured the protection. What I felt when I signed the contract was that I wanted to outperform the deal. So it sucks, but there’s still time.”
Photo courtesy of Eric Canha, Imagn Images
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