The Red Sox may be getting some late-season bullpen help from two familiar arms, with Garrett Crochet and Tanner Houck both working toward possible returns before the year is out.
Crochet is set for a bullpen session today, his second since being cleared to throw off a mound. Per Tim Healey of the Boston Globe, the left-hander could be in position to help in the first round of the playoffs if he gets through the next steps without any setbacks.
Houck is a bit farther along. He’ll throw about 20 pitches today in a Double-A rehab game, and if that goes smoothly, he’s lined up for roughly 45 pitches in Double-A on Friday before moving on to Triple-A Worcester for another outing.
Crochet’s path back has been anything but straightforward. He went on the injured list early this season with shoulder inflammation, then suffered a lat strain while working back from what initially looked like a minor issue.
That sequence has kept the 2025 American League Cy Young runner-up sidelined for five months. The 27-year-old was dominant last season, piling up a career-high 205 1/3 innings with a 2.59 ERA, more than 31% strikeout rate, a walk rate under 6% and a strong ground-ball profile.
This season, though, he’s carrying a 6.30 ERA in six starts, with most of the damage tied to one disastrous outing in Minnesota, where the Twins tagged him for 11 runs, 10 earned, in just 1 2/3 innings.
Crochet told Healey that the idea of returning to a postseason bullpen role feels familiar. He pointed back to his big league debut in 2020, when he was 21 and had just been drafted a few months earlier.
With no minor league season that year and a polished college resume, the White Sox pushed him straight to the majors during their postseason chase. He responded with six shutout innings, allowing three hits and no walks while striking out eight.
In Chicago’s short postseason run, he faced two batters and struck out both. Whether he can deliver anything close to that kind of return this year will matter a lot for Boston.
Houck’s situation is different, but the finish line may be closer. The right-hander is coming back from 2025 Tommy John surgery and, unlike Crochet, already has a track record of logging a full workload for Boston.
In 2024, he threw 178 2/3 innings with a 3.12 ERA. His 20.7% strikeout rate sat a little below average, but he balanced that with a sharp 6.5% walk rate and a huge 55.9% ground-ball rate.
Last year before the surgery, though, he made nine starts and was hit hard, allowing nearly a run per inning.
There’s also less encouraging news on Justin Slaten. Interim manager Chad Tracy told the beat that Slaten had resumed throwing, only to feel the same symptoms that originally sent him to the injured list, according to Gabrielle Starr of the Boston Herald.
Slaten went on the IL in mid-August with elbow discomfort and inflammation, and after early optimism from a symptom-free throwing progression, he has now been shut down again. There is no timetable for his return.
Slaten, 28, still hasn’t matched the 2.93 ERA he posted over 55 1/3 innings as a rookie in 2024. Since then, he’s put up a 4.41 ERA across 65 1/3 innings.
This season, his 28.5% strikeout rate is a career best, but it comes with a career-low 12% swinging-strike rate, though that number remains above league average. He’s also added a sinker, used his cutter more often and nearly eliminated his changeup.
The result has been more called strikes in the zone, but also more contact when hitters do swing.
With Slaten’s status up in the air, any return from Crochet or Houck would loom even larger for Boston. The Red Sox are currently stitching together the middle innings with less established options like Wyatt Olds, Raymond Burgos and Alec Gamboa.
Erik Miller has been excellent since arriving in a trade with the Giants, and the Aroldis Chapman-Garrett Whitlock pairing has been dominant all season. Even so, a healthy mix of Crochet, Houck and Slaten would give the bullpen a much sturdier look as the Red Sox push toward the playoffs.
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