Garrett Crochet’s return watch keeps trending in the right direction, and Saturday brought another encouraging checkpoint for the Boston Red Sox left-hander.
Crochet, who has not pitched in a game since April 25 because of shoulder and lat injuries, took another step forward with a bullpen session at Polar Park in Worcester. He threw about 20 pitches, sat in the 91 to 92 MPH range, and drew a positive review from WooSox pitching coach Dan DeLucia.
“Crochet, dressed in a full white Red Sox uniform, tossed roughly 20 pitches and sat in the 91 to 92 MPH range,” Cassell wrote. “‘He looks great,’ DeLucia said.
‘It was pretty much what we expected. Like, that was the expectation, go out there and kind of make it an in-between side start.
No, actually probably a tick above what I think the expectations were, but for the most part, as expected the fine-tuning things, getting on the mound again.’”
The velocity will catch the eye, especially for a pitcher whose best fastball can live near 100 MPH. But the bigger takeaway is that the outing apparently met - and maybe slightly exceeded - what the club was looking for at this stage.
Crochet has been building back for weeks through bullpen work, and earlier in the week he moved into a multi-inning up-and-down session. Saturday’s throwing load was lighter, coming after he reached 30 pitches earlier in the week and then followed with another 20 or so in Worcester.
The next box to check is live hitters. That remains the key hurdle, the point where the Red Sox can get a better read on how Crochet is actually progressing and whether he resembles himself on the mound. The expectation is that a live bullpen could come early next week.
With just seven games left in the regular season and the playoffs set to begin on Sep. 29, the timeline is tight. Still, the door remains open for Crochet to be ready by then.
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