BOSTON — With Brayan Bello (Sunday) and Lucas Giolito (Tuesday) each making their second rehab starts at Triple-A Worcester in the coming days, the Red Sox are inching closer to having their rotation near full strength for the first time since the start of spring training. Kutter Crawford, however, lags behind.
Crawford, who is a ways away from making his 2025 debut due to patellar tendinopathy in his right knee, was at Fenway Park on Friday for the home opener. After Boston’s 13-9 win, he offered an update on where things stand.
Crawford is throwing bullpen sessions on Tuesdays and Fridays and threw a two-inning, up-and-down bullpen Friday afternoon. He has been working out in Boston, not in Fort Myers, and expects to continue to do that in the coming weeks. The next big step for Crawford would be facing hitters for the first time since camp opened.
“I don’t think (I face) hitters next week, but if everything continues to go as they’re going, then (soon),“ he said. ”It should probably be sometime within the next two or three weeks.”
Crawford would then face hitters in a couple of live batting practice sessions before progressing to the point where he’d pitch in minor league games. At this point, it’s certain he won’t join the major league club in April. Some time in May or even June is a more realistic timeline.
For Crawford, the most important development is that his balky knee, which presented as an issue in the early part of 2024, is less painful than it was late last season or at the start of camp. Rest hasn’t completely fixed the issue but treatments, which are ongoing, have made it more manageable. As of now, Crawford said, surgery is not on the table.
“I’d say it’s a little better. It’s definitely a little better than last year,” Crawford said. “It’s still something that we all try to figure out ways to deal with it. Obviously, I dealt with it all last year. So it’s one of those things where I’ve create a tolerance to it. But I do feel better on my back side and it’s just now getting the mechanics and everything to sync up.”
Currently, the Red Sox have Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck and Walker Buehler anchoring the rotation with fill-ins Richard Fitts and Sean Newcomb in the No. 4 and No. 5 spots. Things will get more crowded when Bello, Giolito and, eventually, Crawford, return. For now, though, Crawford is watching from the dugout.
“Today was awesome. It felt good,“ he said. ”Obviously, I was up here all this week and obviously there’s nobody here ‘cause the boys were on the road, but it felt good to have everybody in the same clubhouse and then the dugout again with the boys, chirping and ball talking and all that. It felt good and definitely motivates me to want to get out there more.”
