Shoulder inflammation wasn’t enough. Now it’s the lat.
Garrett Crochet threw a live bullpen at Kauffman Stadium on May 26 as part of his rehab progression, and a few days later felt lat tightness while throwing. Then it persisted the following Sunday. The best-case return that was already circled around June 20 is now mid-July at the earliest — maybe later, pending the MRI scheduled for early this week.
Chad Tracy told reporters: “Garrett’s got some lat tightness that creeped up in the couple days of throwing after the live [bullpen session].” When asked how long this would halt progress, Tracy offered “no idea.” Cool. Great. Love that for us.
Crochet himself said it “feels like a very minor setback” and that it “doesn’t feel like it even deserves that title.” And maybe he’s right. But Crochet also said that about the shoulder inflammation before he ended up missing nearly two months, so the track record on self-assessment here is not inspiring.
Garrett Crochet said he’s completely fine physically. Alex Cora also said the ace is healthy
— Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) April 14, 2026
Three Opening Day starters have spent time on the IL this year. Crochet, currently out with the lat. Sonny Gray, hamstring, back since May 6 and posting a 3.27 ERA. Patrick Sandoval, still on the 60-day IL recovering from Tommy John surgery — not a realistic option until late June at the earliest, if then. This is the rotation Craig Breslow bet the season on.
To be clear — the rotation was working. In May, these guys together posted a 3.09 ERA, third in all of baseball according to the Globe. The ceiling was real. But the floor was always RIGHT THERE, visible to anyone who wanted to look: a 36-year-old arm in Gray, a post-Tommy John guy in Sandoval, and an ace in Crochet who missed time in 2025 and came into 2026 with the kind of shoulder history that makes every bullpen session feel like a hostage situation.
Breslow’s entire offseason philosophy was bet on upside and hope the injury variance breaks your way. Ranger Suárez ($130M), Gray ($21M net), Sandoval. Quantity with question marks attached. That approach works until it doesn’t, and right now it doesn’t.
The Red Sox are 25-33, fifth in the AL East. They’re not buried, but they’re not where they need to be, and they’re heading into June without their best pitcher and no real timeline on his return. The depth gamble was always going to come due at some point. It just got called in early.
