NEW YORK – The anticipation for Garrett Crochet’s return following a five-month absence became a reality when the Red Sox added the star lefty to the roster for the American League Wild Card Series against the Yankees.
Crochet will work out of the bullpen for the Red Sox in the postseason because he hasn’t had time to build his pitch count back up. His stints are expected to be one or two innings.
Once the Red Sox decided to add Crochet, they decided to go with 12 pitchers and 14 position players because of the uncertainty of how frequently he will be able to pitch in the series.
If not for Crochet’s inclusion, the Sox likely would have taken Braiden Ward (61 stolen bases at Triple-A Worcester) as a pinch-running specialist, and gone with 11 pitchers.
“Hopefully we can use [Crochet] multiple times, but not knowing necessarily exactly how we're gonna do that, carrying an extra pitcher was important,” said manager Chad Tracy.
The presence of Nate Eaton gives the Red Sox a pinch-running option who is also a strong defender in the outfield, if not quite as fast as Ward.
Crochet will be one of seven lefties on Tracy’s 12-man pitching staff. The heavy lean on lefties is due in large part to a pair of righty setup men (Tyron Guerrero and Justin Slaten) being unavailable this round due to injuries.
Here is the 26-man roster for the Red Sox for their best of-three rivalry showdown against the Yankees that starts tonight.
PITCHERS (12): Brayan Bello, Jake Bennett, Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Crochet, Alec Gamboa, Sonny Gray, Erik Miller, Wyatt Olds, Ranger Suarez, Payton Tolle, Greg Weissert, Garrett Whitlock
CATCHERS (2): Adley Rutschman, Connor Wong
INFIELDERS (5): Willson Contreras, Caleb Durbin, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Andruw Monasterio, Trevor Story
OUTFIELDERS (5): Wilyer Abreu, Roman Anthony, Jarren Duran, Jahmai Jones, Ceddanne Rafaela
INFIELDER/OUTFIELDERS (2): Nate Eaton, Nick Sogard