Garrett Crochet throws second side session, could return in Red Sox bullpen for postseason

What happened

Garrett Crochet has thrown his second side session, and the Boston Red Sox are hopeful the left-hander could return in a relief role for the postseason, per MLB.com's Ian Browne. No activation date or formal timetable has been announced — the operative word from the club, per Browne's reporting, is "could."

That single word is doing a lot of work right now, and the Red Sox know it.

Why it matters

Crochet has been sidelined since late April with a shoulder injury, a stretch of absence that has spanned the better part of Boston's entire competitive window this season. The side sessions represent the visible, measurable steps of a return process — a pitcher throwing off flat ground or from a mound in a controlled setting, building arm strength and feel before any game-action decision gets made. Two sessions in, the club is expressing cautious optimism rather than certainty, and that distinction matters for how fans and front offices alike should read this.

The framing of a potential bullpen role is itself significant. A starter returning from a prolonged shoulder absence does not simply slot back into a rotation — particularly not in September, with a postseason potentially weeks away. A relief role would limit his pitch count, reduce the mechanical demands of a full starter's workload, and give the club a way to deploy him in high-leverage situations without asking him to carry innings he may not yet be ready to handle. It is a sensible bridge, if the bridge holds.

Is Crochet actually going to pitch in October?

That remains genuinely unknown. Per Ian Browne's reporting for MLB.com, the Red Sox are hopeful — not certain — that Crochet could be available out of the bullpen for the postseason. Two side sessions is progress, but it is early-stage progress. The club has not announced a rehab assignment, a return date, or any formal next step beyond the sessions themselves. Under general league mechanics, a pitcher on the injured list can complete up to 30 days of a rehab assignment before a club must activate him or make another roster decision — but none of that has been reported as imminent here.

Watch the side sessions. If a rehab assignment gets announced, that is the next concrete milestone.

The numbers

Boston's record sits at 80-66 (.548), good for third place in the AL East, 7 games back of the division lead. The more immediately relevant number: the Red Sox rank 2nd in the Wild Card standings, sitting +6.0 relative to the cut line. That cushion is meaningful — it means Boston is not scrambling to survive; it is positioning to advance. A team with that kind of Wild Card breathing room can afford to be patient with a returning pitcher's workload, which may be exactly why the "could return in the bullpen" framing is possible rather than desperate.

The club enters Wednesday on a one-game losing streak, hosting the Los Angeles Angels at Fenway Park with Jake Bennett listed as the probable starter against Ryan Johnson.

Where the club stands

At 80-66, the Red Sox are a postseason team in the standings right now. Third in the AL East with a +6.0 Wild Card margin means the conversation has shifted from "will they get in" to "how do they want to look when they do." That is the context in which Crochet's side sessions carry weight — not as a lifeline, but as a potential upgrade to a roster that is already in position.

The upcoming schedule keeps Boston at Fenway: the Angels on Wednesday, then the Kansas City Royals on Friday and Saturday. Home games in September, with a Wild Card lead to protect and a bullpen depth question to answer.

The injury picture around Crochet adds texture to the moment. A week removed from the Red Sox placing center fielder Ceddanne Rafaela on the 10-day injured list with a right quadriceps strain — retroactive to September 3, with eligibility to return September 13 per the club's announcement — Boston has been navigating its roster with the particular creativity that September demands. Separately, Tanner Houck has been nearing a return from Tommy John surgery, working toward contributing to the club's playoff push, per earlier reporting. And just days ago, Payton Tolle delivered a 12-strikeout performance to help the Red Sox complete a sweep, a reminder that the pitching staff has been finding ways to produce even while the roster has been in flux.

The September expanded roster — 28 players from September 1 through the end of the regular season under general league rules — gives Boston more flexibility to carry arms and manage workloads than it had in August. That flexibility is part of what makes a cautious Crochet return plausible rather than reckless.

What we don't know yet

There is no reported diagnosis update, no announced rehab assignment, no pitch count from the side sessions, and no club statement about what "hopeful" means in terms of a concrete next step. The Red Sox have expressed optimism, per Ian Browne, but optimism and a roster spot are different things. Whether Crochet will need a rehab assignment before any postseason activation, how many more side sessions the club wants to see, and what the medical staff's benchmarks look like — none of that has been reported.

The shoulder injury itself has not been characterized beyond the fact of its existence and its duration. Attributing a timeline or a prognosis to it would go beyond what the reporting supports.

What to watch

The side sessions are the story right now, and the next one matters. If Crochet progresses to live batting practice or a formal rehab assignment, that is the signal that the "could" is becoming something more concrete. If the sessions stall or the club goes quiet, the cautious framing will have been the right read all along.

Tanner Houck's return process is the parallel thread worth tracking — two pitchers working back from significant injuries simultaneously, with the Red Sox sitting +6.0 above the Wild Card cut line and a postseason that could arrive in a matter of weeks. Boston's October depth, particularly in the bullpen, may look meaningfully different depending on how both situations develop.

For now, Crochet has thrown two side sessions. The Red Sox are hopeful. The rest is still being written.