Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford provides update on knee soreness
On Friday, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said starter Kutter Crawford was a little behind the other starters due to the righty dealing with right patellar tendon soreness.
“Kutter is a little bit behind,” Cora said at JetBlue Park to reporters on Friday. “It’s been going on through the offseason. So he’s behind in his throwing program. I don’t know what that means as far as like a month and a half from now. But right now, he’s behind everybody else."
Crawford provided an update on Saturday regarding his injury and when it started.
“I covered first base, and as soon as I hit the base, something happened, and I just couldn’t put a whole lot of weight on it,” Crawford said.
The right-handed hurler still made a team-high 33 starts and led the club in innings, tossing 183 2/3 frames while posting a 4.36 ERA. He was solid through his first eight starts of the season, posting a 1.75 ERA with a 24.3% strikeout rate but was bit by the home run ball last season, surrendering 34 long balls, the most in the major leagues.
“He grinded through it,” Cora said. “The offseason was OK as far as the rehab. He had some good days and bad days. He’s been here for a while. He lives in the area. So that’s a good thing. People were able to treat him here. But it hasn’t kind of like gained momentum the right way.”
His velocity was down last season as a result of the injury.
“As you can tell, my velo was declining a little bit,” he said. His velocity did dip, averaging 92.6 mph on his fastball, down from 93.6 mph in 2023.
Crawford is behind the other starters with camp underway; he is throwing, completing bullpen sessions with less intensity than the other pitchers. Some Red Sox pitchers have already begun to throw live batting practices.
“I had a couple hiccups with it in the rehab progression of it all (this offseason),” Crawford said. “So I’m just a little behind. The strength just isn’t there where we want it to be. Just a little behind and taking it day to day.”
It’s unclear whether Crawford will be ready for Opening Day.
“That’s not really in my hands,” Crawford said. “It’s kind of whatever process they want to do in the training room. But yeah, I can’t really speak on that.”
He cited one issue for him all last season was pushing off the rubber.
“I need to be able to use my right leg to drive off the mound just for mechanical reasons,” Crawford said. “Every pitcher needs to use their legs. And I had a hard time doing that last year.”
Crawford told reporters that the pain in his knee fluctuated throughout the 2024 campaign, undergoing multiple different types of treatments. He wore a brace, and while it helped, it never took the pain away completely.
While Crawford hasn’t considered surgery, it’s not completely off the table.
“It’s too early for anything like that,” Crawford said. “We’ve gotta get the strength up first in that knee and then kind of go from there. If I still have pain and discomfort, we’ll probably reassess the situation. But kind of just right now taking it day to day and kind of building strength in it.”
The Red Sox have plenty of pitching depth and candidates vying for spots in the rotation. New ace Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, and Walker Buehler are locked into the starting rotation. Crawford and Lucas Giolito will battle for the fifth spot in the rotation. Other internal options like Cooper Criswell, Richard Fitts, and Quinn Priester will look to try and break camp out of the rotation if Crawford lands on the injured list.
