Let’s stop being polite and face the cold, hard, clinical reality: the Boston Red Sox are currently watching $170 million rot on a trainer’s table while the 2026 season slides into the Atlantic Ocean. When Craig Breslow backed up the Brinks truck for Garrett Crochet, he promised the Fenway faithful a generational ace. Instead, he delivered a high-priced mystery wrapped in a medical report.
Red Sox manager Chad Tracy just dropped the tactical nuke we all saw coming: Crochet’s return is officially “not imminent.”
In MLB-speak, “not imminent” is a death rattle. It means the 15-day IL stint was a fairy tale. It means the shoulder inflammation that’s been zapping his fastball since February isn’t just a “tweak”—it’s a structural crisis. While the team tries to feed us “good news” about Crochet playing catch at 100 feet on flat ground, the rest of the league is laughing. 100 feet? That isn’t progress; those are meaningless crumbs thrown to a starving fanbase. If a $170 million pitcher isn’t even touching a mound three weeks into an injury, you aren’t looking at a “recovery”—you’re looking at a catastrophe.
Let’s be brutally honest about the “Ace” we’ve seen so far. A 6.30 ERA through six starts. Yes, the Baltimore game was a masterpiece, but the Minnesota blow-up (10 runs in 1.2 innings!) exposed the truth: Crochet was pitching on a prayer. His shoulder was screaming, and the Red Sox medical staff apparently had their fingers in their ears. To risk the future of the franchise by letting a man with “fastball struggles” pitch through a shoulder issue is organizational malpractice of the highest order.
The Red Sox are currently 16-22, rotting in the basement of the AL East. They are in a “holding pattern” while their rivals are in a sprint. You cannot protect an investment by hiding it in a closet. If Crochet isn’t back by June, the “reclamation project” isn’t just a failure—it’s the reason people are flying banners over Fenway demanding the team be sold. The lights are dimming on the 2026 season, and the man who was supposed to be the savior is currently just the world’s most expensive spectator.
