The situation with the ace lefty took another weird turn on Wednesday.
On the field, the Boston Red Sox were beaten by the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday afternoon at Tropicana Field. With the loss, the Red Sox are now 27-39, 12 games under .500 for the first time since 2020.
Making matters worse, Boston's top three hitters in the order made unwanted history at the plate.
But as bad as that was, it paled in comparison to what came after the game, with ace left-hander Garrett Crochet telling the Boston Globe that his lat strain is worse than originally thought. Crochet, 26, hasn't pitched since April 25 as it is. He was progressing back, but suffered a setback that he didn't think was anything big. Evidently, it was, and now there are questions about if Crochet will be back again this season.
The runner-up for the American League Cy Young Award last season, Crochet got out to a slow start in this campaign, going 3-3 with a 6.30 ERA in his first six starts before getting hurt.
Regardless of how he was pitching before the injury, his absence is a major one for the Red Sox, who entered the season with World Series aspirations.
In addition to Crochet, the team has experienced additional attrition among the rotation group. Sonny Gray has missed time with injury, while trade acquisition Johan Oviedo has barely pitched this season. Depth options like Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval have yet to pitch in the big leagues and Brayan Bello has been sent to Triple-A Worcester after a string of bad outings.
Boston Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet (35) throws a pitch in the second inning of the MLB Opening Day game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati on Thursday, March 26, 2026. The game was tied at 0 after four innings. Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn ImagesIn addition to the rotation issues that this causes, it also continues the disconnect when it comes to the team's reporting of injuries. This injury was thought to be not bad, just like the injury to Roman Anthony's hand in early May was thought to be mild. Yet, here we are a month later and Anthony is still on the injured list and Crochet has an undefined timeline to even start playing catch again.
This season has been a gut punch at every turn for the Red Sox, and it started even before the season began with the departure of Alex Bregman in free agency. The Sox fired manager Alex Cora in April, have dealt with injuries, and now boast one of the least effective offenses in the league.
The team will have an off day on Thursday before starting a weekend series at home against the Texas Rangers.
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