Boston Red Sox
Even if Crochet slightly misspoke when addressing his injury, he’s still expected to be out until after the All-Star break.
Garrett Crochet clarified his injury status Friday. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Garrett Crochet’s injury return timeline remains a mystery to everyone, including seemingly the Red Sox themselves, who didn’t seem to be on the same page this week when discussing his ailments.
Crochet told reporters early in the week that his injury was “a lot worse” than he and the medical staff initially thought, causing plenty of concern for his status for the rest of 2026. Craig Breslow, however, seemed to suggest there wasn’t any new information regarding Crochet’s injury, and that Boston was closely monitoring his status.
With those statements serving to contradict each other, Crochet has since clarified that his lat strain was minor and not serious.
“I was talking about my shoulder … [We] wouldn’t have expected the shoulder to keep me out as long as it has,” Crochet told MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. When you’re dealing with the capsule, it’s a little finicky and it’s a very crucial component to overhead throwing. It was something we didn’t want to rush, then you add the lat into that and that’s what I was referring to. It’s just taken longer than expected to bounce back from everything.”
The ramifications of that lat strain, however, do remain serious as it forced him to pause his throwing. Crochet noted it would be “unrealistic” now to think he’ll be back before the All-Star break.
“What’s today, June 12? And I haven’t had a ball in my hand in two or three weeks?” Crochet said. “I think it would take a huge leap to say I’d be back before then. If I hadn’t injured my lat as well, I’d say yeah, it’s possible. I think that would be really rushing it.”
Crochet hasn’t pitched since April. His highly anticipated year two in Boston came with Cy Young aspirations, and he may already be out of the running for that with so much time spent on the shelf.
The All-Star game is July 14, so if that maker is still a stretch, then it means Crochet is still set to miss another month of action at minimum.
The Red Sox rotation continues to ham-and-egg wins together despite his absence, but Crochet is no-doubt the kind of game-changing player that Boston could use right now. The team is 11 games under .500 and on the verge of all-out selling at the trade deadline to reset for 2027.
Luckily for the Red Sox, Crochet is locked down long-term, so he’ll be a piece they can build around even if this year gets away from them. But taking the mound at Fenway Park isn’t in the near future for the ace.
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