NEW YORK -- After weeks of suspense, Red Sox lefty Garrett Crochet won his race against the calendar and made it onto the American League Wild Card Series roster against the Yankees as a reliever.
"I’m just excited," Crochet said. "It means a lot. When you're on the IL, you're kind on a lonely island, and now to be a part of the team again feels good."
Now that he is on the roster, which was announced Tuesday morning, the questions center around how Crochet will be used and how frequently.
His appearances in this round will likely be limited to an inning, or at the very most, coming back out for part of a second inning.
Crochet, Boston’s Opening Day starter, hasn’t pitched in a game since April 25. It’s a unique situation, but one that the Red Sox are more than willing to assess in real time.
In throwing two live batting practices over the final week of the regular season, Crochet convinced the Red Sox's brass that he is ready to contribute to the latest chapter of the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry.
What made Boston think it was worth it to activate Crochet despite how long he was out with a left shoulder injury?
“The stuff,” said Red Sox manager Chad Tracy. “The last two live BPs, he was up to 96.5 [mph] in a live BP setting in [Fenway Park], and then I think he was 95-plus in Fort Myers at noon with nobody there. When this guy's in the zone, if it's coming in there the way you think it can, and the ability to completely miss bats and wipe an inning out, that's a chance you're gonna take with a pitcher like that.”
Tracy was non-committal to Crochet pitching more than once in the series. The Red Sox's training staff will continue to evaluate him on a daily basis with strength tests. And passing those tests following Monday’s team workout is what earned him a roster spot on Tuesday.
“Just checking those strength numbers, that's all it was,” said Tracy. “As he's been going through this process, there’s been grip strength, shoulder strength, all the stuff that they do. And doing them the next day after he throws, are those in normal range? Everything checked out on that end, so we're in a good spot with him.”
Crochet seemed open to multiple appearances and didn’t want to estimate the maximum number of pitches he could throw in an outing.
“No clue,” Crochet said. “I'll go until they take the ball from me.”
Who could forget the tone that Crochet set at Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of last year’s American League Wild Card Series, when he turned in a masterful performance which included 11 strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings and 117 pitches?
This is a much different year for Crochet, and it’s doubtful he will be able to impact a game to the degree he did in that 3-1 victory for the Red Sox.
Considering all that Crochet has gone through this season, the fact he was on the roster when it was announced on Tuesday is satisfying to the lefty, who finished second in the AL Cy Young Award race in 2025.
For months, Crochet was frustrated by a rehab that turned out to be longer than he ever envisioned. But he didn’t let that frustration diminish his motivation to put himself in position to be part of Boston’s playoff run.
“It was obviously a lot longer than I expected,” Crochet said. “Been busting my tail just to kind of give myself a fighting chance, and I feel like I did that.”
Last year, Crochet got the only win of the series for the Red Sox. This year, Boston looks for a chance to get rivalry redemption.
Pitching in relief is familiar for Crochet. He did it in college at Tennessee and in his first 72 career appearances (2.71 ERA) for the White Sox before he was converted to a starting pitcher in ‘24.
“I think anytime that you're stepping into a role that you've done before, there's a sense of comfort there,” Crochet said. “Anything that happens [in this series] probably won't be too comfortable, but that’s OK. I look forward to embracing it.”