It’s now June, the month when we expected to see Garrett Crochet again. But while Crochet was progressing nicely in his return from shoulder inflammation and had hoped to skip a rehab assignment altogether, he has since experienced lat tightness and will hit pause on his throwing program. Moreover, he’ll get an MRI some time this week. This doesn’t sound major — yet — but it’s not what you want to hear. “Feels like a very minor setback. It [stinks] to even call it a setback. It doesn’t feel like it even deserves
that title,” Crochet said. “Just trying to make sure that when I do return to play, that I’m there for the rest of the year.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
Crochet isn’t the only Sox star to hit a setback (regardless of what he wants to call it). Roman Anthony once again experienced pain and discomfort in his hand when he tried to hit off of a tee. There is no timeline for his return, though he is going to try to swing again tomorrow. “It’s not Roman’s fault,” said Chad Tracy. “None of that’s anybody’s fault. It’s just that he got hurt and it’s a nagging injury on a hand when he’s trying to hit. We have to be patient with that and it’s gonna take a little longer.” (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
With Anthony on the shelf, the Sox can’t afford any more injuries to their few productive hitters. That might be why Chad Tracy gave some time off to Willson Contreras and Ceddanne Rafaela yesterday, both whom were a little banged up. Contreras is dealing with some arm issues, partly due to being hit by pitches, while Rafaela has a bit of a sore back. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
Let’s hope those injuries don’t linger, because between Jarren Duran’s recent resurgence, Trevor Story’s injury, and Caleb Durbin’s reduced playing time, it’s starting to feel like the Red Sox can actually hit. (Rob Bradford, WEEI)
Mickey Gasper deserves a shout-out for his production in the lineup as well, especially since few people ever predicted he’d get to the big leagues. “I had a big chip on my shoulder,” said Gasper “I wanted to prove that I belonged at that level.” (Trevor Haas, Boston.com)
Is the fact that the Red Sox are now counting on Mickey Gaspar instead of a free agent bat like Kyle Schwarber a testement to Craig Breslow’s overreliance on analytical models? “Theo Epstein has been disappointed by the Sox’ intense analytical direction under Breslow,” according to this deep dive into Breslow’s front office. “Theo was an all-forms-of-information guy,’ said one evaluator who was with the Sox during the Epstein era. ‘He didn’t just live on Carmine [their internal database at the time]. He listened to people.‘ (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
