The Boston Red Sox are on a 14-game winning streak. They’ve clawed back to .500 and grabbed a playoff spot as the second half gets going. But the guy who was supposed to be their ace for the next half-decade? He’s not coming back anytime soon. And when asked about pitching this season, Garrett Crochet basically shut the door.
“It’s tough to say, I’m not going to make a claim like that,” Crochet told NBC Sports Boston when a reporter asked if he’d pitch in 2026. “I understand why you ask the question… it’s just completely different from the original diagnosis.”
That’s not the kind of quote you hear from a guy who expects to be on a mound in September. Crochet hasn’t pitched since April 25. He struggled early, then hit the injured list. Boston hasn’t really missed him yet. They’ve won 14 straight and look like a completely different team than the one that stumbled through April. But the clock is ticking on the trade that brought him over from the White Sox last winter.
The Ace Who Went Quiet
Crochet was dominant in his first season in Boston after the trade. He struck out 255 batters in 205.1 innings with a 2.59 ERA. He finished second in AL Cy Young voting behind Detroit’s Tarik Skubal. That version of Crochet looked like a franchise cornerstone. The 2025 version hasn’t shown up yet.
In four starts this season, his ERA was over 5.00 before he went down. The injury itself hasn’t been clearly explained. The team has been vague about it. Now Crochet himself is suggesting the original timeline was wrong. That’s not great for a team that gave up serious prospect capital to get him.
Boston’s pitching staff has held together without him. But the Red Sox front office didn’t trade for Crochet to be a spectator while they went on a hot streak. They need him for October. Maybe not this October, if his timeline really does stretch into 2026. That would be a disaster for a franchise that finally looks ready to compete again.
For now, the Red Sox are winning. The vibe in the clubhouse is good. But Crochet’s recovery remains a slow-moving cloud over everything. If Boston stays in contention through August, his absence will start to feel a lot louder.
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