The Boston Red Sox’ pitching depth has taken a significant hit.
The Red Sox placed left-hander Garrett Crochet on the 15-day injured list Wednesday due to left shoulder inflammation, retroactive to April 25.
Boston called up utility man Nate Eaton from Triple-A Worcester to take Crochet’s spot on the roster.
Crochet owns an uncharacteristic 6.30 ERA through six starts this season, a number inflated by a disastrous April 13 outing in which he allowed 10 runs in 1.2 innings. The 26-year-old insisted he was healthy after that game but allowed five runs over five innings in his next start on April 19, a 6-2 loss to the Detroit Tigers.
Crochet pitched well in his last appearance, dealing six shutout innings with seven strikeouts in Saturday’s 17-1 rout of the Baltimore Orioles (which also was Alex Cora’s final game as manager before his firing). His IL stint is retroactive to the day after that start, however, so perhaps he had an issue crop up during that outing.
If Crochet misses the minimum amount of time, he could return to action as soon as May 10. It’s worth noting, however, that the star left-hander also dealt with left shoulder inflammation in 2023 as a member of the White Sox and missed nearly three months (June to September) despite originally being placed on the 15-day IL.
The Red Sox sit last in the American League East at 12-18 and own a team ERA of 4.20 (17th in MLB), so if Crochet misses extended time, that would make an in-season turnaround even less plausible.
