Garrett Crochet returning to the Boston Red Sox roster for the postseason is getting very real.
Crochet threw a live batting practice session on Tuesday and said his fastball sat between 94 and 96 mph, per MassLive's Christopher Smith. Last year, his fastball averaged 96.4 mph, so perhaps the velocity is not quite where it was last year, but he would still be a big arm out of the bullpen in October.
Crochet does not know what's next for him. The Red Sox could activate him ahead of the regular season finale to get him some game action before October, but they could also wait to make a decision based on live batting practice sessions. The team wants to see how Crochet feels on Wednesday before deciding whether he will throw another live batting practice.
In an ideal world, Crochet would get some game action before the team puts him on the postseason roster. It's hard to imagine Crochet not being on the postseason roster if he is healthy, but he understands that it is a possibility.
“It’s whatever (chief baseball officer) Craig (Breslow) thinks is right,” Crochet said, per Smith. “This team’s had a great year. I think that for me to take a spot on the roster and someone would have to lose one, I would feel bad doing that because this team’s pitched their (expletive) off the whole season. Ultimately, that’s something that’s going to be up to the front office and whenever they gauge that I’m ready, then I’ll accept that. In the meantime, I’m just going to keep working my butt off.”
Crochet is one of the best pitchers in baseball, and even though this season has not gone quite his way, he is an elite arm. Bringing him back would be great, but only if he can actually be effective after not pitching since April.
“I would say the way that live just went that I could go get outs,” Crochet said. “It depends obviously what role they want me in. Like I said, it’s not really for me to say. I know myself and I know my body. And the biggest thing is that I felt good out there. Felt like I was able to ramp up intensity to a place that I haven’t gone yet. Tomorrow’s gonna be a big deal seeing how I recover.”