Crochet has chance to make Red Sox's Wild Card Series roster as reliever

NEW YORK -- Who could forget the tone that Garrett Crochet set at Yankee Stadium in Game 1 of last year’s American League Wild Card Series, when he turned in a masterful performance which included 11 strikeouts over 7 2/3 innings and 117 pitches?

This is a much different year for Crochet, and it’s doubtful he will be able to impact a game to the degree he did in that 3-1 victory for the Red Sox.

But the fact that Crochet’s even here, and in very much in play to be added to the roster as a reliever when it is announced on Tuesday, is satisfying to the lefty who finished second in the AL Cy Young Award race last season.

This season was a rough letdown, filled with left shoulder woes, a setback, and ultimately months of strengthening and rehabbing the capsule that surrounds his rotator cuff just so he could be cleared to throw again.

It has been a gradual buildup. A race against time of sorts. Crochet thinks he’s done enough to win the race, even if he hasn’t pitched for the Red Sox since April 25.

On Saturday, in Fort Myers, Fla., he threw his second live batting practice session of the week.

“It was good. Been feeling good. I guess now it's just a matter if anybody agrees with me,” said Crochet.

The Red Sox certainly sounded open-minded about having Crochet as part of the mix in this best-of-three series against the rival Yankees.

“We're still seeing,” said Red Sox manager Chad Tracy. “Again, like I said, he threw the live BP and came out of it well. We'll see as we get to the end of the workout if we can key down on making decisions like that.”

One key question is if Crochet will be able to pitch more than once against the Yankees, which feels important in a best-of-three format.

“I think the answer to that is up in the air,” said Tracy. “If we're able to activate Garrett and we do that and we decide to do that, obviously he's available, right? I think beyond that, if you were to use him, the availability, whether that's the next day or for another game in the Series, it's still going to be contingent on us continuing to evaluate him.

“We know where he's at. We know he's worked very hard to get everything back strong the way it needs to be, but we're still going to be evaluating him daily to see where he's at. Whether he's available to pitch [more than once] in this series, I don't know the answer to that yet.”

For months, Crochet was frustrated by a rehab that turned out to be longer than he ever envisioned. But he didn’t let that frustration diminish his motivation to put himself in position to be part of Boston’s playoff run.

“It was obviously a lot longer than I expected. Been busting my tail just to kind of give myself a fighting chance, and I feel like I did that,” said Crochet. “Now it's just waiting for the roster to come out. I hope that I'm able to contribute, but regardless, I'm here, and I think that we have put ourselves in a great position to walk away from the Series with a win.”

Last year, Crochet got the only win of the series for the Red Sox. This year, Boston looks for a chance to get rivalry redemption.

Will that experience in Game 1 last year help him if he gets the chance to face the Yankees again this week?

“It's more so just awareness of being in the moment of the postseason and being able to quiet the noise on the outside, just not letting the moment get too big,” Crochet said.

Pitching in relief is familiar for Crochet. He did it in college at Tennessee and in his first 72 career appearances (2.71 ERA) for the White Sox before he was converted to a starting pitcher in ‘24.

Considering that Crochet hasn’t had time to stretch out his pitch count, one or two-inning stints seem most likely should he make the roster.