Just as Boston Red Sox fans were starting to feel optimistic about Garrett Crochet’s return, the rug got pulled on Sunday.
After experiencing lat/side tightness on Thursday, Crochet and interim manager Chad Tracy reported Sunday that the left-hander will be temporarily shut down, meaning he won’t throw live to hitters on Tuesday, as was the goal. He’ll undergo imaging on that lat to make sure there aren’t any lasting concerns, but even if everything comes back clean, his return timetable will definitely be pushed back.
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“It feels like a very minor setback. It sucks to even call it a setback because it doesn’t feel like it even deserves that title,” Crochet said, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. “But I won’t be making the live on Tuesday, which sucks.”
Crochet’s ‘tough’ setback puts rotation in question
In terms of timelines, Crochet was thought to be headed for a rehab start or two in early June, which would have likely ensured that he spent less than two months on the injured list.
Perhaps he’ll only be delayed by another week or so, but any setback immediately sets off alarm bells that this could be a prolonged issue. Subjectively, it feels like getting Crochet back before the All-Star break would qualify as a positive outcome at this point.
“It’s tough,” Crochet said, per Cotillo. “I still feel like I was still a little far off from a rehab start, so it was very, very early in the build-up process. That’s a pretty vulnerable time for the arm, in general, during the build-up process. If it was gonna happen at some point, I would expect it to happen right around now.”
The Red Sox now are fairly entrenched in their five-man rotation: Sonny Gray, Ranger Surez, Connelly Early, Payton Tolle, and an opener in front of Brayan Bello. The latter stood to potentially lose his spot when Crochet returned, but has been pitching great when he hasn’t had to worry about the first inning.
Year two for Crochet in Boston has already proved a much different reality than his dream debut. The Red Sox have a long-term investment to protect here, so the ace shouldn’t pitch again until he and the team are 100% confident his risk of re-injury is low.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/mlb/red-sox/onsi as Red Sox Issue Nightmare Injury Update on Garrett Crochet: ‘Sucks’.
