The Boston Red Sox’s starting rotation hasn’t been at full strength at any point this season.

Ahead of Spring Training, there was a lot of talk about how the Red Sox could roll with a six-man rotation because they had that much depth. The candidates for the rotation were Garrett Crochet, Brayan Bello, Walker Buehler, Lucas Giolito, Tanner Houck, and Kutter Crawford. This idea of a six-man rotation was quickly squashed, though, the Red Sox began the season without Giolito, Bello, and Crawford. Giolito and Bello quickly returned, but Crawford hasn’t taken the mound for Boston this season.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like he will either. This was already known, but still isn’t the best news. He underwent wrist surgery and MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo shared that the current expectation is that he is on track for Opening Day next season.

Sep 28, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Kutter Crawford (50) pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images / Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

“Kutter Crawford is here and said his wrist surgery was the result of doing maintenance around the house, twisting it the wrong way and feeling a pop. He thinks he’s on track for Opening Day,” Cotillo said.

Crawford was one of Boston’s most dependable starters in 2024. Despite all of the turmoil of the season, Crawford — and Houck — gave Boston chances to win every fifth day and significantly increaed their workloads. Now, both are done for the season — or never was ready to go. Last year, Crawford had a 4.36 ERA in 33 starts for the Red Sox across a career-high 183 2/3 innings pitched. His career high in innings pitched in a big league season before that was 129 1/3, which was in 2023.

The Red Sox could’ve used Crawford early on, but right now, the rotation is in a very good place. Dustin May has the No. 5 spot and the other four are held by Crochet, Giolito, Bello, and Buehler. The Red Sox also have Kyle Harrison knocking on the big league door.

Next year will be interesting to see how the rotation shakes out because of the the hurlers on the roster are under team control for the 2026 season. Crawford may be ready to go on Opening Day, but is there a spot for him? Only time will tell with that question but we’ll see what happens. At the very least, the fact that he said he’s trending towards Opening Day is positive.