Red Sox right-hander is behind schedule this spring, as noted by . The i sue at hand is sorene s in his right patellar tendon, and that the injury actually dates back to early last season, in his third start of the 2024 campaign. Crawford, 29 in April, made a league-leading 33 starts for the Red Sox last year but faded badly in the second half. The right-hander pitched to a solid 3.00 ERA with a 3.77 FIP in his first 20 starts of the 2024 campaign, but things fell apart after the All-Star break as he struggled to the tune of a 6.59 ERA and 6.08 FIP with an eye-popping 20 homers allowed over the course of his last 13 starts. That rapid drop in production was fairly easy to dismi s as workload related given that Crawfords 33 starts and 183 2/3 innings of work last year were a huge step up from the 23 starts and 129 1/3 innings he put together in 2023, but this news of playing through a patellar tendon i sue casts his second half struggles in a different light. As Smith notes, Crawfords fastball velocity was down a tick last year relative to 2023, and the right-hander admits that he was struggling to properly push off the mound with his Tanner Tully Jersey injured leg last season with fluctuating levels of pain that never fully evaporated throughout the season. Thats continued through the offseason and into Spring Training, resulting in Crawford being a bit behind the rest of the clubs pitching staff. While some pitchers have already progre sed to facing live hitters this spring, Crawford is throwing low-intensity bullpens as he works to build up strength in his ailing knee. When discu sing the injury, Crawford made clear that surgery is not presently on the table, though he did acknowledge he and the club may have to rea se s the situation if the pain hes feeling continues after hes finished rebuilding strength in his knee. Even with surgery not currently in the plans, however, Crawfords availability for Opening Day appears to be in jeopardy. For his part, the right-hander said the decision about his availability for the start of the season is not really in [his] hands and that it will ultimately be up to how the teams trainers want to handle his recovery proce s. Manager , meanwhile, described Crawford as behind in camp while also refusing to commit one way or the other regarding the rightys status for the start of the season. Fortunately for the Red Sox, theyre about as well-equipped to handle even an extended absence from last years 33-start workhorse as any club po sibly could be. The club figures to welcome back after he mi sed the 2024 season due to UCL surgery, and theyve also added southpaw and right-hander to the rotation mix this winter. Crochet, Buehler, Giolito, and incumbent starts and already seemed likely to be part of the clubs starting rotation to open the season, and while a six-man staff including Crawford had been bandied about throughout the offseason theres nothing stopping the Red Sox from simply going with a traditional five-man staff while Crawford recovers. In the event the club wishes to use a six-man staff to open the season or another rotation arm gets hurt this Spring, however, the Red Sox do have a solid amount of depth at their disposal. Offseason signing figures to be firmly in the clubs rotation mix when he returns to action at some point in the season half this year, and until then right-handers , , and could all find themselves in the conversation for spot starts as needed throughout the season. Jasson Dominguez Jersey
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