TORONTO -- The hits keep coming for the Red Sox through the start of the 2026 season.
Already adapting to life under interim manager Chad Tracy, Boston lost ace Garrett Crochet to the 15-day injured list on Wednesday due to left shoulder inflammation. The move is retroactive to Sunday and saw utilityman Nate Eaton recalled from Triple-A Worcester to take Crochet’s spot on the 26-man roster.
“Just some fatigue I was feeling in my last start,” Crochet said from his locker in the visitors’ clubhouse at Rogers Centre. “I was able to grind through it there at the end, but it makes more sense to get ahead of now, so I’m not playing catch-up the rest of the season.”
Crochet’s last outing came Saturday in Baltimore, when he delivered one of his strongest starts of 2026. The reigning American League Cy Young runner-up held the Orioles scoreless through six innings while striking out seven.
It was the latest chapter in what has been an uneven season for Crochet. Through six starts, he owns a 3-3 record with a 6.30 ERA, 37 strikeouts and a 1.47 WHIP -- numbers that are bloated by a 1 2/3-inning showing against the Twins on April 13, when he was charged with 10 earned runs.
“Just building up strength in the shoulder [and] continuing to check those boxes,” Crochet said when asked what the next steps may be. “At the end of the day, [I] feel like it was something preventable, but during [Spring Training], lost strength and never really got it back.”
The 26-year-old pointed to a skipped start during the spring that could have been an initial sign of that lost strength, but feels “pretty confident” that he will be able to return when the 15-day IL stint is up.
“I think that’s the hope,” Tracy later added. “Especially because of the fact that he’s been able to continue to throw over the last couple days, and it was moreso like, ‘Is he going to bounce back from this, or is it going to linger?’ ... We’ll see how he responds, but I think everybody feels confident that’s going to be the case.”
The Red Sox are already operating without key offseason addition Sonny Gray in their rotation, who is working his way back from a right hamstring strain suffered on April 20.
An added absence of Crochet will further throw Boston’s pitching plans in flux. Especially considering the impact the 6-foot-6 southpaw provided in his debut season with the Red Sox, posting a 2.59 ERA over 205 1/3 innings and 32 starts.
Crochet was lined up to start Boston’s series opener on Friday against Houston -- a slot the Red Sox are calling “TBD” for the time being.
Jake Bennett, who ranks as the Red Sox’s No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline, was scratched from his start at Triple-A on Tuesday, a move which Tracy said was intended to keep their options open.
“Obviously, with [Bennett] not pitching, he’s an option,” Tracy said Wednesday. “But we’re going to talk about it after the game, going into tomorrow, and decide what we’re going to do there. So we have not decided [on Friday’s starter] yet.”
Eaton, meanwhile, will join the club for Wednesday’s series finale against the Blue Jays after a hot start in the Minors.
The 29-year-old Eaton was slashing .292/.373/.458 with three homers and six stolen bases in 27 games for Worcester to open 2026 after a short stint with Boston last season.
In 41 games with the Red Sox in 2025, Eaton hit .296 with a .731 OPS and nine stolen bases.