The Red Sox got through most of the 2026 season without two of their biggest difference-makers, yet still managed to win 87 games and reach the playoffs. Roman Anthony was limited to 55 games.
Garrett Crochet, the lefty ace Boston badly needed, made only six starts. For a team to survive that kind of hit and still make a postseason run says plenty about the roster.
It also explains why the early word on both players matters so much.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow offered encouraging updates from the General Manager Meetings, with Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe relaying the details on social media. Abraham wrote, "Of note from our session with Craig Breslow at the GM Meetings: He would not commit to Story as the SS," Abraham wrote. "Triston Casas (remember him?)
could play winter ball. Crochet will start ramping up soon.
Anthony's diagnosis has not changed. 'He feels good.
I talked to him yesterday.'"
With the season already in the books, there won’t be many meaningful injury updates before spring training. That makes any positive news from the organization stand out even more.
Anthony’s year was interrupted by a partially torn ring finger CMC ligament, and his return before the playoffs didn’t last long. His postseason ended after he dealt with "new strains to different muscles in his wrist in addition to exacerbating the old injuries."
The encouraging part is that the club said when the season ended that Anthony didn’t need surgery. Breslow saying the diagnosis hasn’t changed, along with the note that he feels good, is exactly the kind of update Boston wanted to hear.
The concern now would be a setback closer to camp that keeps him from being ready on time.
Crochet’s path was different but just as important. Shoulder and lat problems kept him out for most of the season, though he did make it back and pitch in the playoffs.
That alone was a strong sign. Boston later said he was on track for a full and normal offseason, and the latest word that he’ll start ramping up soon points in the same direction: healthy, progressing, and moving forward.
If Anthony and Crochet are both right for 2027, Boston’s ceiling jumps fast. Add in the rest of the group - Adley Rutschman, Willson Contreras, Payton Tolle and Ranger Suarez, among others - and the Red Sox start to look like a serious American League World Series threat.
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