Crochet and Houck Are Headed for the Bullpen, and the Red Sox Have No Other Choice

At 80-67 with roughly two weeks left, the Boston Red Sox are still very much alive in the American League race — third in the AL East behind Tampa Bay (87-58) and the Yankees (83-62), with a plus-82 run differential that says this is a good team, not a lucky one. But the story of the past week in Boston isn't the standings. It's the pitching staff, and what the Red Sox are being forced to do with it.

Two Aces, Two Bullpen Roles

The biggest development: Garrett Crochet and Tanner Houck are both working toward returns, and both are expected to come back as relievers.

Crochet, who threw a 2.59 ERA over 205.1 innings with 255 strikeouts in 2025, has been out since late April with a shoulder injury. He's now thrown multiple side sessions and is reportedly being viewed as a potential bullpen piece for the postseason. His own quote — "I'm not Joe Schmoe. I've done impressive things" — captures a pitcher who believes he can handle a compressed role he's never filled.

Houck, out since Tommy John surgery, is on a rehab assignment and inching closer. His track record shows the appeal: a 3.12 ERA across 30 starts in 2024, before a brutal 2025 (8.04 ERA in nine starts) ended in surgery.

What It Says About the Rotation

Here's the uncomfortable read: a team doesn't move two starters to relief in September unless it has to. Multiple reports this month describe a rotation showing signs of exhaustion, with the Red Sox having traded away pitching depth during the season — depth that is now coming back to bite them. Boston even pushed back Sonny Gray's September 1 start to manage his workload.

The team's overall numbers remain strong: a 3.54 ERA that ranks third in the AL, 1,161 strikeouts in 1,184 innings, a 1.22 WHIP. But the last ten games tell a different story — a 4.42 ERA in that window, up from where this staff has lived all year. Over the past five games, the club has trended toward lower-scoring affairs, and the offense has been middling: a .231 average and .746 OPS across the last ten.

The bullpen, meanwhile, sits at a 4.07 ERA with 20 saves and a 1.305 WHIP. Adding Crochet's swing-and-miss or Houck's ground-ball profile to that group could matter more than another five-inning start.

The Health Ledger Keeps Growing

Boston's injured list is the real subtext. Along with Crochet and Houck, the 60-day list includes Kutter Crawford, Johan Oviedo, Triston Casas, Zack Kelly, and Eduardo Rivera. Willson Contreras and Masataka Yoshida are on the 10-day list. Justin Slaten, whose 2026 season has produced a 4.60 ERA in 36 appearances, is dealing with a stagnant rehab.

And then the week's most damaging news: Ceddanne Rafaela was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right quad strain. He'd been one of Boston's best all-around players — .282 with 16 homers, 32 doubles, 70 RBI, and 17 steals in 135 games. Losing that combination of bat and center-field defense, days after he'd initially avoided the IL, thins a lineup that can't afford it. Curtis Mead, meanwhile, may be done for the year.

The Bigger Picture

The Red Sox are still priced as a real postseason threat; their championship odds sit in the 13-1 to 20-1 range depending on the book, implying the market sees a legitimate but not favored contender. That's a fair read of a roster with elite pitching infrastructure and a mounting list of unavailable bodies.

The path forward is narrow and specific: survive September with a tired rotation, get Crochet and Houck back in short bursts, and hope the offense — .246/.321/.407 as a team — can scratch out enough runs behind them. Yahoo Sports has already framed the looming question about how Boston should line up its playoff rotation. The honest answer might be that the most important innings come from the bullpen gate, not the first pitch.

That's the tradeoff the Red Sox have chosen. Whether it's a calculated October weapon or a symptom of a staff running on fumes will be answered in the next three weeks.