When Garrett Crochet and Roman Anthony went down in late-April and early-May, things looked a lot different for the Boston Red Sox.
Crochet's last outing came on April 25th when the ace shined in a 17-1 rout of the Baltimore Orioles just hours before the club fired long-time manager Alex Cora after a 10-17 start. A few days later, the left-hander was placed on the injured list with shoulder inflammation.
Anthony last played on May 4th, when a hand injury on a check swing forced him out of a game in Detroit. He, like Crochet, has not been on the field since. At the time of Anthony's injury, the Red Sox were 14-21, but they found lower lows, plummeting to a 32-46 record on June 24th.
Since that day, they have gone 29-5, climbed back into a Wild Card spot, and bought at the trade deadline. With the outlook now completely flipped in Boston, the questions linger about the health and potential returns of their two rehabbing stars.
Manager Chad Tracy provided the first substantial update on Anthony in months last Thursday when he revealed that the outfielder has started a hitting progression, swinging the bat for the first time since a setback in late May.
At that point Anthony was only hitting off of a tee and against underhand flips, and Tracy indicated that he would remain in this early stage for some time depending on how he responds.
Now, close to a week later, he has made notable progress. Tracy told the media on Tuesday that Anthony took overhand batting practice in the cage and is moving through his progression well as they introduce new things.
He explained that Wednesday will be a scheduled recovery day before facing BP again on Thursday to "see how he responds" and "hopefully advance him" into the next stage.
Currently in the second phase of the progression, Anthony's next steps will likely be taking BP on the field from a coach, hitting off of a pitching machine to simulate a big league at-bat, and then going on a minor league rehab assignment. Once on rehab, the Red Sox have a maximum of 20 days to activate him. Considering the long layoff, he may end up using close to the full amount to get his timing right.
Tracy also gave a promising update on Crochet, who is now throwing again for the first time since a new lat injury shut down his shoulder rehab. The left-hander is in the "very infant stages" of a throwing progression, throwing from 50-60 feet.
Crochet will face a more robust build up period than Anthony, and he is likely to need a full six weeks similar to a spring training workload to get back on the field. Projecting that out with no snags or setbacks would have him returning for the final week of the regular season. A few weeks ago, the 27-year-old indicated that his goal was to mount a comeback for the playoffs.
While it may be tough to work him back up to a full starter workload, adding Crochet into the pitching staff in any capacity will be a huge boost for a postseason run. At this point there is almost no room for error in his recovery, and the smallest of tweaks could end his season, but the current timeline at least leaves the door open for the ace to get back in the mix for what is currently the hottest team in baseball.
