The Boston Red Sox have been among baseball’s worst teams in 2026, with a record of 31-44 seeing them sit firmly in last place in the American League East, as the team have lost five of their past seven games. These struggles come despite the team expecting to be competitive in 2026, with the offense being one of the worst in the sport, tallying just 294 runs on the year, making them one of just two teams under 300 runs thus far.
The pitching has been fantastic, as the Red Sox rank eighth in MLB with a 3.85 ERA as a team, but unfortunately, they haven’t been able to capitalize, and will likely head into the 2026 trade deadline as a seller.
Red Sox Staff Thriving Despite Garrett Crochet Injury
GettyGarrett Crochet of the Boston Red Sox.
The success of the Red Sox staff may come as a surprise to many, especially given the injury to star ace Garrett Crochet, who started just six games this season, making his final outing thus far for Boston back on April 25th.
In that time, he compiled a record of 3-3 with an ERA of 6.30 through his first 30.0 innings of the year, with his struggles being a big story for the Red Sox early in the 2026 season as they got out of the gates incredibly slow. Since then, they’ve turned things around, but with the low-grade lat strain, it was unclear when their superstar ace would pitch again, with even the most optimistic outcomes seeing him out until after the All-Star break.
Latest Update on Garrett Crochet bad News for the Red Sox
With the All-Star break just a few weeks away, Red Sox fans were hoping for a positive update on Crochet as his potential return looms, but on Monday, Manager Chad Tracy revealed an unfortunate update on his All-Star pitcher.
According to reporter Tim Healey, Crochet has not yet begun throwing, and after a re-evaluation of his shoulder on Monday, the team are optimistic he is improving, but not quite to the extent that allows him to take the next step in his recovery.
He had a scheduled reevaluation of his shoulder today, and it showed that he is “improving,” per Tracy. But not enough to take that next step.
What that means is that we may not even see Crochet return to a mound until mid-to-late July, with a return to the Major Leagues potentially not even coming until the end of July or early August. Even with the Red Sox struggles, a return of Crochet could have been the thing to spark this team to a push for a Wild Card spot, as they are currently only six games out of the final Wild Card spot despite being 13 games under .500, but if Crochet is out for another 6-8 weeks, their hopes may be completely gone by the time he returns.
Ultimately though, after Crochet’s start to the 2026 season, there’s no guarantee that he could come back and immediately be the All-Star level pitcher he was in 2024 and 2025, but with the team and their fans holding on to any good news for hope of recovering their 2026 season amid a dreadful start, this news may be devastating.
Red Sox Manager Reveals Unfortunate Update on Garrett Crochet Recovery