BOSTON – Through the marathon season, the players who spend their time almost exclusively on the injured list tend to get forgotten about.
But that creates a chance for those same players to re-emerge if they can get an opportunity.
The Red Sox have four players who fit into that category entering 2027. Here are the circumstances that surround each member of the quartet.
In the home stretch of the 2023 season, it was hard to picture anyone but Casas being the first baseman of the present and future for the Red Sox. Over his final three months of that rookie season, the left-handed-hitting slugger slashed .311/.401/.585 with 17 homers and 46 RBIs in 241 at-bats.
All systems were go at the start of 2024, when, over a 14-game stretch from April 5-19, Casas blasted six homers in 52 at-bats. But then, the next day, everything changed, and hasn’t really been the same again. Playing in Pittsburgh, Casas suffered torn cartilage in his rib cage. He missed most of the next four months, then had a .772 OPS and seven homers in 40 games after returning in mid-August.
Nothing good came out of 2025. Casas started slowly, but then ruptured the left patellar tendon in his left knee on May 2. That was the last time Casas played in an organized game.
Initially expected to miss just the first month of the 2026 season rehabbing from that injury, Casas wound up suffering two additional injuries in his attempted comeback, culminating with left wrist surgery on Aug. 6.
So where does that leave him in 2027? The first thing the Red Sox have to do before the November 20 non-tender deadline is to decide whether to tender him a contract or let him become a free agent. If the Sox bring Casas back and he regains his health, it gives Boston another power source on a team that needs to hit more home runs. With first base occupied by Willson Contreras, DH could be a landing spot for Casas. The other thing the Sox could do is option him to the Minors to serve as insurance in case someone else gets injured.
An All-Star starting pitcher for the Red Sox in 2024, the homegrown Houck got off to an abysmal start to ‘25 and then underwent Tommy John surgery in August. He expressed a determination to return before the ‘26 ended, and he did, by the narrowest of margins. Houck started Boston’s final regular-season game against the Cubs, but the team didn’t believe his stuff was consistent enough to warrant a spot on the Wild Card Series roster.
Where does that leave Houck going forward? First things first: He has a year left before free agency, so the Sox must make a decision on him before non-tender day. If Houck stays, he could vie for a spot in the rotation if Sonny Gray departs as a free agent. Payton Tolle, Ranger Suarez and Jake Bennett are the three who definitely figure to be part of manager Chad Tracy’s starting five. That could leave an opening for a former All-Star in Houck, who has an entire winter to continue building back his arm strength.
There was a reason chief baseball officer Craig Breslow traded a power-hitting prospect in Jhostynxon Garcia to the Pirates for Oviedo last Dec. 4. The Sox liked his under-the-hood metrics and felt their pitching program could help him get more out of his arsenal than he had in the past. But the project never really got off the ground.
Oviedo lost the derby for the final spot in the rotation in Spring Training and made just one bullpen appearance in the first road trip of the season before going down with a right flexor strain. Oviedo made one rehab appearance for Triple-A Worcester just before the Minor League season ended.
The 28-year-old is entering his final season of arbitration eligibility. Look for Breslow to let this experiment play out further, and for Oviedo to get a shot at a rotation or bullpen spot next season.
When the righty led the American League in starts (33) and the Red Sox in innings (183 2/3) in 2024, few would have predicted that he wouldn't throw a pitch in a Major League game the next two seasons.
But due to a barrage of injuries to different body parts (right knee, right wrist, right elbow), Crawford has been unable to get over the hump.
Crawford was lined up to pitch the season finale for Triple-A Worcester, but that game was rained out, befitting his lack of fortune the last couple of years.
While it seems unlikely Crawford will get a chance to start in 2027 given his recent durability issues, a bullpen role could give him a soft landing to return. But he is also a non-tender candidate.