The Boston Red Sox suffered a difficult loss on Tuesday against the Atlanta Braves, but there were two silver linings to the day as the team finally got some good injury news on their two most important players: Outfielder Roman Anthony and starter Garrett Crochet. 

The 22-year-old Anthony has been out of the Red Sox lineup since May 5 after suffering a wrist sprain during the Red Sox' May 4 win in Detroit. After being diagnosed with a wrist sprain, he was shut down from all baseball activities until he could manage the pain. 

Anthony resumed throwing while the team was in Atlanta, but experienced a setback after still feeling pain when he attempted to begin a swing progression ahead of last Monday's game in Kansas City, leading to him being shut down until the team returned home. It was later revealed that Anthony actually had a ligament sprain in his ring finger.

According to Christopher Smith of Masslive.com, Anthony took 12-15 swings ahead of Tuesday night's series opener against the Braves and felt better than his first attempt at swinging last week. The 22-year-old will continue to ramp up the velocity of his swings on Wednesday afternoon. While Smith's MassLive coworker, Chris Cotillo, added that the team is hopeful their star outfielder has turned a corner as he works his way back from the injury. 

Anthony's return to the Red Sox lineup will hinge on his ability to manage the pain as the ligament heals. 

For the first time since landing on the injured list with left shoulder fatigue on April 29, Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet has faced live batters. According to Tim Healey of the Boston Globe, the 26-year-old lefty threw one inning of live batting practice on Tuesday afternoon. According to Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald, Crochet's velocity sat in the mid-90's. 

The latest benchmark comes just five days after Crochet threw two up-and-down innings in the Kauffman Stadium bullpen, in which he was unhappy with his mechanics. 

The 2025 Cy Young award runner-up will likely need multiple outings against live hitters before rejoining the Boston rotation, including a potential rehab appearance with a minor league affiliate. When he does return, he will join a pitching staff that has become one of the best in baseball. 

Heading into the 2026 season, Anthony and Crochet were the two most important pieces to the Red Sox success. While both have come well shy of meeting the lofty expectations placed on them before their respective trips to the injured list, could their imminent returns be the spark the Boston clubhouse needs to turn things around? 

The Red Sox and Braves will play again on Wednesday at 6:45 p.m. ET.

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