Red Sox right-hander Kutter Crawford is going to have surgery on his right wrist. Manager Alex Cora told Tim Healey of The Boston Globe today and added that the righty is “most likely” done for the year. He’s already on the 60-day injured list and will stay there for the remainder of the season.
It’s the latest development in what has been a very frustrating season for Crawford. Back in mid-February, he was behind schedule to due soreness in the patellar tendon of his right knee. He began the season on the 15-day IL, with his ailment listed as patellar tendinopathy.
Earlier in June, it was reported that Crawford was dealing with wrist pain, with an unknown cause. Cora revealed today, per Healey, that the injury was a result of some off-field accident. He didn’t provide any specifics but said it wasn’t due to anything “irresponsible” on the part of Crawford.
Perhaps more light will be shed on this accident in time. Regardless, 2025 will probably be a lost season for Crawford, though Cora’s use of the phrase “most likely” seemingly leaves the door open for some work late in the year.
Crawford has been establishing himself as a viable piece of the Boston rotation in previous years. From 2022 to 2024, he gave Boston 390 1/3 innings with a 4.47 earned run average. His 23.9% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate in that time were both a bit better than average. Ideally, he would have continued to build on that performance in 2025 but that won’t be coming to pass.
He qualified for arbitration for the first time this past offseason as a Super Two player. He and the Sox avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $2.75MM salary for this year. An arbitration-eligible player who misses an entire season will often end up making the exact same salary in the following year, so that is perhaps what will play out here.
For the Sox, they have received nothing from Crawford this year and have also lost Tanner Houck and Hunter Dobbins to the IL during the campaign. Their rotation mix currently consists of Garrett Crochet, Lucas Giolito, Brayan Bello, Walker Buehler and Richard Fitts. Houck is currently on a rehab assignment and could be back soon. Dobbins isn’t expected to be out long. The Sox also added some rotation depth by acquiring Kyle Harrison in the Rafael Devers trade. Patrick Sandoval could get back into the mix later in the year once he recovers from last year’s elbow surgery.
Crochet is the only one in that group currently putting up really strong numbers, so it’s possible the Sox will look to bolster the rotation at the deadline if they stay in the race. They are currently 40-41 and 2.5 games back of a Wild Card spot.
Photo courtesy of Dale Zanine, Imagn Images
Roman for Sandy
Keep dreaming.
Dirty – Agreed, I want no part of Sandy aka Buehler 2.0
More than a Roman
Clone me a prime sandy koufax and I’d listen to see what else is to the deal.
GaSox – Agreed!
So what do you think of the sweep today?
Offense was anemic again, only 3 Hits and 2 Walks and 14 K’s.
There were some silver linings though:
1) Didn’t lose in extra innings again
2) Didn’t lose a 1-run game again
3) Didn’t commit an error
4) Cora didn’t get ejected
5) They had beautiful weather
6) They can’t lose again until Friday
Ya think Raffy’s BFF Vladdy will have some extra motivation this coming weekend in Fenway?
Still waiting for some of those wins that Breslow insisted wouldn’t have happened if Raffy was still on the team ;O)
Oh wow the NESN guys are totally trolling Sox management, showing a huge graphic of the Red Sox DH spot since Raffy was traded:
.188 BA
1 Extra-Base Hit
3 RBI
11 Strikeouts
.538 OPS
And they correctly pointed out the Red Sox actually got shut out today, the only reason they scored the 2 runs in the top of the first inning was because of a gift error and the ump missing an obvious strike. If just one of those things didn’t happen, it’s a shutout.
Now 8 losses behind the Yankees, 5 losses out of a Wild Card spot, and they need to pass 5 teams to get into that last Wild Card spot.
Talk about an uphill battle!
Just a few days ago they were 1 game out of holding the middle WC, and, had a game up on the last WC.
There’s a lot to unpack, and, BOS often underperformed historically on long west coast trips. Seems like every year they struggle out there, I’m think of Oakland and Seattle in particular, even in years those teams were going nowhere.
I’m actually fine with Cora getting ejected, just wish it was more often in the 1st inning.
You gotta remember as much bad as there was on the road trip, there was some abysmal luck from the umps – calling duran out at 2nd even though his hand was clearly back on base before the tag in replay? A called third strike 6 inches off the plate?
Some things even out/level out.
And as far as DH and production there, look who has been cycling through the line-up post Raffy. IF you want the kids to develop, they’ve got to play every day. And they’re gonna struggle making adjustments. Otherwise you’ve gotta blindly pick one to ship out and you could be dumping a future HOF guy for modest returns.
GaSox – Yeah I agree, it’s disappointing after they got our hopes up …. but all teams go through it in the course of a long season ….. ebbs and flows, win streaks and losing streaks …. that’s why I look beyond them. For instance the Sox caught the Yankees at a perfect time, when Judge was in a brutal slump and they were playing awful. They continued to lose after playing the Sox, that was one sign.
Another sign was the winning was mostly driven by great pitching, while the hitting was awful. We are not gonna see gamewinning homeruns off pitchers like Fried anymore, not until Roman gets settled which probably won’t be until next year.
I agree, let the kids play every day. Have Rafaela replace Hamilton at 2B, let Mayer play 3B every day, let Roman play LF every day with Duran in CF, and when Houck comes back have Fitts replace Buehler.
Umps have been awful, ABS can’t come fast enough. I agree it evens out though.
They’ve still got 15 games against the Athletics, Rockies, Marlins and Pirates so I do believe they will reach at least 78 wins …. but more importantly, those easy games will help the kids build confidence.
Hey speaking of the Marlins, I just booked my round trip to Woosta in August and will be attending the Marlins games. I’m thinking tickets will be really cheap by then, so I’m holding out for the Monsta. But man that drive from Woosta into Boston really sucks that time of year, the pike will be a parking lot. They really need to expand it.
Maybe get knee surgery??
cdr – He developed the wrist injury while on the IL, it was not an error by Darragh.
It makes sense to get the surgery since the Sox have stated they won’t try to contend until 2026 at the earliest.
They will need Kutter healthy next year.
Right but the wrist surgery has potentially come from the knee issue. The knee issue has been the whole problem, and probably has him change mechanics ultimately hurting the wrist.
cdr – Yesterday Cora stated the wrist surgery is required because of an “off the field accident” that occurred recently, all he said is the “accident” wasn’t due to irresponsible behavior.
That has healed, the wrist is new
No, the Red Sox have not stated they won’t try to contend until 2026. That would be big news, repeated often like the Full Throttle comment.
Well they certainly aren’t looking like they are competing for 2025. But you’re right to call out Fever who just makes assumptions
They were just in the third wild card position over the weekend.
Not anymore. They just lost 5 straight and are below .500. If we make the postseason, do you really think it’s worth it with a .500 record? This team needs a new direction. Fire Cora. It’s deja vu for the third straight year
I think it is always worth it to make the postseason. You never know what could happen. I think they are moving in the right direction and will keep improving each year. I think they are improved this year, but the close games have not gone their way.
The FO will not fire A. Cora. By doing so, they would be admitting their mistake in signing him to a 3-year $21 million contract. What Cora has likely done is ruin the chances for getting his dream job as manager of the LA Dodgers.
Well, it was funny back in February talking about how superfluous the Patrick Sandoval signing was.
Fast forward 4 months with Houck and Dobbins on the DL, Crawford done for the year, Buehler being a spectacular failure, Giolito predictably being a bum, and Fitts struggling, and man, I can’t wait to see Patrick Sandoval.
Life sure comes at you fast.
Based on the current track record of Buehler and Giolito (Paxton, Kluber…. Etc) I don’t have high hopes for Sandoval.
Pitching depth is huge, it would have been nice to spend on actual good pitchers this off-season but that’s too much to ask.
Certainly true. It’s like Boston’s approach to building a pitching staff was adapted from the mystery box bit from that old Family Guy episode. “Lois, a boat’s a boat but the mystery box could be anything! It could even be a boat!”
Sandoval probably isn’t gonna be any better than the rest of these stiffs, but at least for the time being he is still technically the mystery box.
Dirty – There’s another box in play …. Kyle “Don’t Call Me George” Harrison.
We should see him shortly after July 4th …. when he no longer is able to accrue a full year of service time this season.
Also true! I chuckled when I saw the quip in the media about him being down in the Minors to “revamp his arsenal”, like yeah, they’re just gonna overhaul his pitch mix in the next 10 days. Sure, okay. Lol.
I am hopeful he will turn out to be a decent arm in time, though still being young and relatively inexperienced I’m expecting he’s going to have to take some lumps this summer adjusting to pitching in Boston. Which is fine. But I’d rather see him and Fitts in there taking the beatings and getting the learning experience from it, than continue to see Buehler and Giolito keep taking up space without moving the needle.
Dirty – I’ll go on a limb, if the Sox are sellers both Gio and Buehler are gone by the deadline.
If the Sox are buyers, Buehler is gone or demoted to the pen.
Dirty – I think of that same family guy scene often ha!
That’s exactly how I viewed most of the signings.
Why sign Max Fried when you could sign Buehler! He could be anything, even as good as Fried!
Joe
Fried is the only one of the big 4 free agent pitchers that is currently performing well. Burnes, Sasaki,and Snell are all on the 60 day IL. I’m just pointing out that pitching is a major crapshoot. At the time I liked the Buehler signing,he performed well in the playoffs for the Dodgers. Spectacularly wrong. He is more painful to watch than David Price with runners on base .
cdc – Sasaki wasn’t a big free agent as he was limited to a modest salary, but with his health concerns long before signing it was inevitable he’d get injured.
Remember everyone wondering why he would give up hundreds of millions by coming to MLB 2 years early? That’s why, he knew he’d have injury issues.
With Buehler it was simply a very small sample size to base a huge contract on. He absolutely sucked all season, his performance in the postseason was very brief and not indicative of his worth. The Dodgers knew this, that’s why they refused to even offer him a QO.
Snell is perpetually on the IL, and as FPG pointed out Sasaki had the injury concerns and I believe had a velocity dip last year that people were attributing to anything but an injury concern.
Buehler performed well in a few games in the playoffs but largely pitched poorly during the regular season.
There were other decent pitching acquisitions to be made this off-season instead of Buehler. Two guys pitching well, Eovaldi and Pivetta, are former Boston guys. I’m ok with Pivetta getting the change of scenery, I think it helped him. My concerned re:Eovaldi was always his healthy. But hey, if he can put up 25 good starts a season that would be massive for this team now that they have some guys to spot start if he needed to miss some time.
Kikuchi is pitching really well. Severino has pitched well when he’s in a major league park.
There was some much better moves to make not only this off-season, but previous ones. Sonny Gray has been a home run for the cards. Same with Lugo for the Royals. Two guys that the Sox could have been in on.
I agree 100% that pitching is a major crapshoot, but the team keeps repeating the same mistake and hoping for different results. They keep going bargain hunting, the SP is bad, the bullpen gets overworked, and they don’t have a successful season. It’s the same thing for the past like 8 years.
Joe – Great posts!
There’s one other free agent pitcher the Red Sox majorly bungled …..Shota!!!! They absolutely cheaped out with their lowball offer to him,
Cubs gave him guaranteed $53M/4 yrs with a $10M posting fee going to his former club.
The Red Sox offer? Only 2 years guaranteed.
Talk about cheap Red Sox management ……
As for crapshoot, of course any time you offer millions to an athlete there’s a risk involved. But there are different degrees of risk, some are much higher risk than others.
And the Red Sox tend to choose the highest risk free agent signings because ….. wait for it …… those are the cheapest to sign, of course.
Look how much they’ve dumped on Paxton, Kluber, Liam, Sandoval, Buehler, Giolito …. all EXTREMELY high risk signings.
Sasaki was considered the #1 prospect in all of MLB. He was on everyone’s radar.
giolito has actually been more than serviceable. buehler looks like he is legit done it’s painful to watch and i’m a yankee fan
WAR is exactly zero, he’s been extremely hittable and sporting a hard hit rate close to 50%, and an xERA over 5 and a half.
To be fair he has a surprising 6 quality starts, though even in a couple of them that I watched he was skating by without much in the way of “stuff.” He’s hardly generating any swings and misses and has a pretty low ground ball rate.
For a team claiming to have playoff aspirations, him being our third best starter, which he is right now, is flat out not good enough.
6 of Giolito’s 10 starts have been quality starts. I’d say he’s being a fine middle of the rotation arm so far.
Correct on the number of quality starts, which is kind of surprising. His stuff is not fooling anyone and is getting hit hard. That’s why in three of his other starts he’s given up 6, 6, and 7 earned runs. Even in some of these quality starts he has still allowed a bunch of hits and walks, he is not fooling anyone up there. There have just been a surprising number of fluky days where the baserunners happened to not translate into runs.
It’s actually quite funny, the Red Sox ended up winning 2 of those 3 starts where he allowed 6+ runs.
True, but you can’t count on good fortune like that to continue.
Yeah, just thought it was funny. I was at the one 3 weeks ago and it was an emotional roller coaster.
“Even in some of these quality starts he has still allowed a bunch of hits and walks”
Thats not true. Take out the Bad 3 and the rest are decent to very good.
6 inn, 6 H+W
6 inn, 3 H+W
6 inn, 6 H+W
4.2 inn, 7 H+W
7 inn, 8 H+W
6.2 inn, 3 H+W
6 inn, 7 H+W
Result: 0.94 Whip
Well, I stand corrected. Don’t know why but it’s felt worse than that.
Dirty – I know I’m always the eternal optimist, but it’s really not THAT bad!
Houck isn’t really injured, he was just messed up by Bailey and the coaching staff and Cora leaving him in blowout games TWICE.
Gio has been great of late, seems like he’s finally shaken the rust off.
I don’t want to jinx my man Fitts but his last start doesn’t count, as he should have still been rehabbing …. it was just another panic move by Cora and management because they were desperate for a starter at the time.
Yes Buehler is a disaster, just as I had feared at the time they signed him.
Sandoval should be good as new around Labor Day ….. 2026 ;O)
For the first time in a very long time, Boston has a quality pipeline of young pitchers in the minor leagues. Next year, they have both Crochet & Bello locked up for multiple years and will still have Houck & Crawford controlled via arbitration for another 2 years.
Down on the farm, they have Luis Perales (recovering from TJS) who is projected to be a solid #2 starter with a ceiling of a #1. Then they have a TON of #3, # 4 and #5 starting pitching prospects in Harrison, Tolle, Early, Clarke, Sandlin, etc. along with some very solid prospects in A & A+ ball as well (Valera, Paez, Monegro, Cason).
On top of that, they will have Fitts & Dobbins for 2026 depth and hopefully a full season of a healthy Sandoval as well.
This year was clearly a year of final development for their young pitchers in the minors, not to mention the development of their Big 3 (Mayer, Anthony & Campbell). They hoped that Giolito, Buehler, Story, Wong, etc. would play well enough to get them to the playoffs, but their real years of contention will begin in 2026 and it will be tied to the success of their young pitchers coming up from the minors and the growth of the Big 3.
D M
Im keeping my eye on P. Tolle, Crochet like size 6’6′ 250 lbs , fastball up to 98. I believe it has started , the Sox must focus all there resources towards pitching.
this mythical window has become a receding horizon
Realistically Houck is the actual guy who can return and help stabilize the rotation rather than Sandoval, but I felt like being sarcastic. It’s also been discouraging to read about Houck’s rehab starts, neither has sounded all that impressive. Hopefully just a couple of bad days he moves on from. If they aren’t giving up on the idea of the playoffs yet he needs to return to form and put up strong results down the stretch.
Gio I don’t have any faith in to be a major contributor. He’s somehow making it work better than he should be able to with how hard he’s been getting hit, clearly he is not fooling anyone. If they are actually still trying to push for a playoff spot he cannot be our third best pitcher. If we need him to eat innings as the fifth guy, fine, there is some value in that but given some of his contact and batted ball metrics I think he is a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.
Hate to admit I was wrong on Buehler, but while it was easier to write off a couple of the early starts as rust or adjusting to a new team, he’s only gotten worse and they just cannot keep running him out there. Houck will hopefully bump him from the rotation for good upon his return.
Dirty – If Fitts can stay healthy, I think he will play a bigger role this year than people think.
Dobbins is the big question mark because of the health concerns.
So who do you envision as their #2 in the second half? It kinda sounded like Houck, but no mention anywhere of Bello? He’s been pitching well too.
Bello is absolutely the number 2 right now. No mention of him because that was my gripes list. Assuming no trade acquisitions the rest of the way, I’m envisioning the pecking order ideally as:
1. Crochet – rock solid ace
2. Bello – he’s been cruising and I hope he keeps it up. It really feels like he’s turned a corner and this is the version of him I’ve been waiting for
3. Houck – I’d say I’m like a 3.5 out of 10 in how worried I am about him, which is to say just a tick above mild concern. Probably half of the concern is just because it’s getting late enough in the season that margin for error is shrinking more rapidly so there won’t be a lot of time to figure out if he is back to being an effective starter before they have to either go trade for one, or give up.
4. Fitts – Same as Houck, I do think he’s a better pitcher than his results have looked this year, so big picture my concern is minimal and I still see him fitting into the staff in some capacity in the future.
5. Gio – if all the above are firing on all cylinders, I’ can live with letting him run with the 5 spot for as long as he continues to keep them competitive through 6 innings. If he falters, especially if they give up on pushing for a wild card, he should go to the bullpen to make way for Harrison.
6 .Harrison – probably a work in progress until next season, so if they’re competing I won’t be upset if Giolito or Sandoval stay ahead of him. If they wave the white flag, getting him experience should become a higher priority so he should slide into the 5th spot.
If you get that group firing on all cylinders, we’re talking about a 1-3 that can more than hold their own in a playoff series.
Ironically, starting pitching isn’t even the biggest issue on this team. Not even top 3.
“Houck and Dobbins on the DL, Crawford done for the year, Buehler being a spectacular failure, Giolito predictably being a bum, and Fitts struggling…”
To quote Seinfeld, “but you gotta like their chances”. lol
youtube.com/watch?v=0mkMJre_PbE
Love their chances.
Tim Healey is from the Boston globe, not newsday
Doesn’t matter who’s on the field, who’s on the farm or who’s on the IL… this team is going nowhere with Cora in the dugout. It’s embarrassing man. A total failure in preparation and execution. That falls on the manager and the coaching staff.
It’s so bad that NESN has changed the graphics when they show the defensive “line up” for the Sox. They used to show how many team errors they have and their rank in MLB. They don’t show the rank anymore because it was always 30th.
The season is half over and this team is incredibly hard to watch. Lead off double and no one (NO ONE) can advance the runner to 3rd. It happens nightly. And can we please go a whole game without having multiple guys get thrown out on the bases?!? FFS…
But hey… Go Sox!
Agreed. Swan.
It would also be nice to see a game where one of our players who has 1 or 2 hits in the game is NOT pulled for a player who hasn’t had a hit in the past 7 years!
swan – You are 100% correct! And it’s not just this season …..
The Red Sox have the most errors in MLB going back to 2019.
As for “hard to watch”, it depends on how you approach it.
If you watch the games expecting wins, sure you will be disappointed.
If you watch the games to see the performances of players like Mayer (GREAT game last night), Duran (don’t give up on him!), Narvaez, Crochet, Chapman, etc it’s definitely enjoyable.
Even Roman has had a lot of great PA’s, he has tremendous plate discipline for a kid his age. He may make an out, but he’ll drive up the pitch count doing it.
The resurgence of Story is pretty cool too ….
Fever—When…WHEN…will this David Hamilton experiment be over??? The hot dog vendor at Fenway can hit better than him!
Chance – Bregman will be back soon, that’s when the Hamilton Experience ends.
Heck, he’s even getting thrown out trying to steal.
But to his credit, he does have two of the biggest homeruns this season.
But yeah, one big homerun a month doesn’t make up for all the futility.
I wonder how Grissom feels watching Hamilton.
You have to wonder how much all of these injuries / struggles has to do with the Bailey and his “Pitching Lab'”
After all Crochet is the only one in the rotation enjoying any success. Is that because Bailey hasn’t had time to destroy him, too?
I was hugely excited about the Bailey hire. Now I wonder if it is time for him to go?
DBH – You’re right. Crochet is a beast, his pure size definitely helps him stay healthy …. he won’t be fracturing a rib any time soon.
But Bailey’s emphasis on constant max effort, max velo, spin rate, etc is definitely taking it’s toll.
Keep in mind Driveline has it’s hands all over the pitching changes too …. they are not just about hitting.
Is ” pitching lab” the new catch phrase for pitching development people? ..seems like just today ive heard that term be used in connection with at last half a dozen or more teams on mlb radio (not Boston as I think you need to be good to have a “lab”)
Here is a link from Jan 2024, Pool…
statslugfest.com/post/andrew-bailey-craig-breslow-…
Basicially, Bailey and Breslow came up with the idea of getting away from using the fastball so much. It worked for about 2 months until teams caught on to what the sox were doing.
But being Boston, they’ll never admit that the project failed.
Worse, other teams have now begun to develop their own labs.
Analytics gone asray in my opinion.
There’s also the ‘Run Prevention Coordinator’ or similar phrases title which is equally as annoying.
I think the important thing is that there is now a strong focus on the pitching side. Not all labs are good/quality, but I hope that a team with the resources like the Red Sox can eventually create a good one. Whether you call it a pitching lab, development program, whatever. Just find a way to have a steady pipeline of pitchers, and find ways for the pitchers to adapt.
The only good news is with the money moved from Devers and letting Giolito and Buehler walking they can at least make a run at Cease or Valdez, if they hit the market.
Maybe go get another more proven and healthy veteran to slot in as #3 and hope Bello shows enough to be more than a competent 4.
This season is cooked and they should dump Cora. It goes to show he was lucky in to win the series.
Between devers, giolito, buehler, and bregman who will opt out, your talking well over 100m – even discounted for deferrals.
That money can easily afford cease, or if you want a cheaper lower ceiling, king… plus bring back bregman if that’s your plan.
But – I think if bregman opts out they don’t chase him down. I think they’re eying jordan/arias to fill in around ’27, maybe late ’26…
Mayer has been good enough at 3rd they may keep him there with bregman opt-out and let story end his contract at SS till a prospect is ready to take over.
Being this was an off-field incident is it guaranteed that the red Sox cover the surgery especially after he lied about it.
Long time Sox fan. It’s time to admit they are a clown show.
Worst fundamental team ever. Poor fielding, base running , hitting with men on base.
Terrible optics – Devers.
Manager seems to have checked out and team seems lifeless.
Ownership enough said.
Wanted to go to a few games this year but watching this dumpster fire is easy to say no to the most expensive tickets in baseball to sit in a mausoleum.
I’m not a Sox fan, but man, gotta lighten up a bit. They’re 2 games under with half the season to go. They have a great young core, some interesting arms still remaining, and on the bright side, just got out from under Devers’s long-term deal to better build themselves up going forward. They’re still an organization that went to the ALCS as recently as 2021. I think they’re in a better spot than many teams right now.
Oh they are in a better spot than many teams for sure.
I’m all about letting the young guys play this year and seeing what they have.
Devers wasn’t worth that contract even if he wasn’t an enormous baby.
But, most here seem borderline suicidal.
SP
WHO IS STAN PAPI
Spray painted outside of the Green Monster on Landsdowne st. They don’t make them like Bill Lee anymore. Love it
Orioles 2.0 – a bunch of over hyped prospects and no pitching. At least Balty didn’t pay their rookies. The Rafaella and Campbell deals look great on paper but paying a AAAA player (Campbell) before he hits in the big leagues is a gamble.
Whitlock should be stretched out and should replace Fitts in the rotation, you have to keep running Buehler out there until the end of the season, might be able to trade him, there aren’t as many good starters available as you might think and there is a lot of buyers.
I think it may have already been happening. The Sox must use all of there vast resources in developing pitching. Through the draft, international free agency,and by all other means. Quality hitting is easier to attain than quality pitching. I don’t believe it is wise to hand out 7,8 year contracts at 9 figures to any pitcher over 30 maybe younger. I can understand the F.O’s reluctance in doing so. I really wanted them to sign Burnes,and looked what happened to him. Crochet, I have my fingers crossed. P. Tolle is built similarly, he may be our next home grown lefty.( Lester)
I’m rambling and frustrated with this brand of baseball I’m watching.
Agreed. I think the approach has been to develop pitching more than signing free agent pitching.