Garrett Crochet (shoulder) throws off a mound

Crochet took the mound in the seventh inning for his first game action since April 25, with the Red Sox facing elimination and trailing by a single run at the time. It didn’t go well. Simply put, he looked like a pitcher who hadn’t faced hitters in five months, as all four batters he faced reached base safely and eventually came around to score. Spencer Jones reached on a wild pitch and wound up on third base after a throwing error before George Lombard Jr. brought him home with an RBI single. Crochet was lifted after allowing back-to-back hits to Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Trent Grisham. It’s difficult to put the blame entirely on him, and he deserves plenty of credit for persevering through his rehabilitation to even have a chance to pitch in this spot, but Crochet simply wasn’t sharp enough in a moment when Boston needed him to keep its playoff hopes alive.

We had been trending this way for a while, and now it’s official. Crochet will not be used as a starter in this series, but he has been throwing for weeks now and was reportedly hitting 96 mph in his last live batting practice session. He will be an option for the Red Sox out of the bullpen in this series.

He’ll be pitching in Fort Myers because of the expected bad weather in Boston. Crochet’s performance in that session and how he feels afterwards will determine whether he’s on the Wild Card roster as he tries to come back from his shoulder injury.

Red Sox manager Chad Tracy told reporters Crochet will not appear in a regular season game but remains a possibility to pitch in the postseason. The 27-year-old ace has not pitched in a game since April 25. He’s been ramping up his throwing progression since early August with the goal of pitching out of the bullpen in the playoffs.

“I felt like, with the way that went, I could go get outs,” Crochet said. Things sound more encouraging today than they did a few days back, as reports mostly had him in the low-90s while not facing hitters.

Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy told reporters it was the most Crochet has thrown from a volume standpoint so they’ll wait to see how he’s feeling before determining his next steps. The 27-year-old ace is ramping up his throwing progression in advance of the postseason where he’s expected to pitch either as an opener or out of the bullpen as a multi-inning weapon.

Nothing has really changed regarding Crochet’s potential return timeline as he prepares to make it back for Boston’s impending postseason run. The big question is how much of a workload he’ll be able to handle following the extended layoff. He’s expected to continue building up his arm strength and stamina and could progress to a minor league rehab start for Triple-A Worcester in the near future.

Crochet was in full uniform on Tuesday to throw a bullpen before the Red Sox’s game against the Angels. It was his second bullpen in the last four days and another big step forward in his plan to join the team as a reliever for the playoffs. The left-hander is scheduled for another bullpen on Friday or Saturday and then may get a chance to pitch in a rehab game or two in Triple-A before the season ends on September 20th. While the Red Sox have said that they won’t stretch him out beyond three innings given the short timeline, interim manager Chad Tracy has said that using Crochet as an opener is on the table.

Healey also notes that it’s likely Crochet will not pitch in a game in the majors or minors before returning for the postseason. One would assume the Red Sox would not want to use him in high-leverage innings right away without any rehab assignment, but it’s possible that he could be used as a three-or-four-inning opener or bulk reliever, perhaps in tandem with Ranger Suarez or Brayan Bello in a postseason rotaiton that will likely feature Sonny Gray and Payton Tolle as well.

It’s a significant step towards Crochet returning to Boston’s pitching equation as a one or two-inning relief option for the postseason. The 27-year-old fantasy ace made just six starts before hitting the injured list with a shoulder issue in late April. It won’t help fantasy managers down the home stretch, but it qualifies as a positive that Crochet managed to avoid surgery and is making real progress with his throwing program. He should be healthy for the start of next spring, lockout permitting, after a normal offseason.