2026 Red Sox Injury Updates

[vegasbob]

53 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

If and when there is a lockout, then and only then, Casas will be 100% healthy.

And be complaining he didn't get a fair chance to show his stuff.

[moonslav59]

58 minutes ago, drewski6 said:

dont count on it

I'll count on him slipping on a banana peel the second the lockout ends.

[notin]

15 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

If and when there is a lockout, then and only then, Casas will be 100% healthy.

I honestly believe Casas could injure himself by getting locked out…

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

35 minutes ago, notin said:

I honestly believe Casas could injure himself by getting locked out…

He just read your post and yelled, "Foul!" out loud. 

Now he's imagining picking the lock... leaning on his good knee, twisting on his good side... under drifting cloud formations that look like Anthony's ring finger pointing, and Story doing lateral shuffles.

[drewski6]

15 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

I'll count on him slipping on a banana peel the second the lockout ends.

mariokart

[drewski6]

46 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

He just read your post and yelled, "Foul!" out loud. 

Now he's imagining picking the lock... leaning on his good knee, twisting on his good side... under drifting cloud formations that look like Anthony's ring finger pointing, and Story doing lateral shuffles.

Isnt a shuffle inherently lateral?  I dont even know how you would shuffle north-south.  And turning your body doesnt count because you are still going sideways relative to the direction you are facing.

[drewski6]

fancy footwork by chromeo.

[mvp 78]

[moonslav59]

We've had lots of talk about Story, but is IKF even in the 26 man roster conversation? (Assumung Story is added before IKF is ready.)

[Behindenemylines]

On 8/20/2026 at 4:54 PM, moonslav59 said:

If and when there is a lockout, then and only then, Casas will be 100% healthy.

Is that with or without a liver transplant? (See above post)

[mvp 78]

[moonslav59]

These guys starting rehabs in September are just prepping for 2027.

Houck has had a few outings, so maybe he gets a look-see, but time is running out.

[drewski6]

29 minutes ago, moonslav59 said:

These guys starting rehabs in September are just prepping for 2027.

Houck has had a few outings, so maybe he gets a look-see, but time is running out.

To me, I will never trust Houck in 2026.  Im not saying Id never pitch him in 2026 playoffs, saying Id never feel comfy.  Same Oviedo.  Crochet is my example.

[notin]

On 8/20/2026 at 3:54 PM, moonslav59 said:

If and when there is a lockout, then and only then, Casas will be 100% healthy.

He’ll probably cut his hand on the lock…

[moonslav59]

I'm not even sure we can count on Houck, Crochet and Oviedo for opening day 2027.

For what it's worth, here is MLB.com's injury report:

14 Players!

Rafaela:  Season is over after doctors found degenerative changes in his right flexor mass. Will receive a PRP injection and rehab the injury.

White: Banged into a grate in center field on Sept. 8 and suffered ligament damage. Currently on crutches and in a walking boot. Set to get second opinion during week of Sept. 13.

Seigler: Removed from Sept. 12 game after feeling pain in his right wrist during fourth-inning at-bat. Initial fluoroscan negative, issue described as inflammation due to bony abscess in wrist. Will be reassessed in a week.

Guerrrero: Threw a live batting practice session on Sept. 12. Experienced lower back muscle cramping on Sept. 15, delaying activation. Feeling better as of Sept. 16, but activation date is unclear.

Crochet: Threw a 30-pitch bullpen session at Fenway Park on Sept. 15 that went well. Will continue throwing program this week before being re-evaluated weekend of Sept. 25-27. 

Houck: Pitched a scoreless inning in his third rehab appearance on Sept. 15 with Triple-A Worcester. Expected to pitch again Sept. 18 trying to reach 45-, 50-pitch range. 
 

Oviedo: Scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Sept. 14 and then begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester, where he will pitch in a game on Sept. 17.

Crawford: Has resumed throwing bullpen sessions and could throw to hitters at some point soon. (Last updated: Sept. 9) 

Mead: Continued defensive work after playing catch for first time on Sept. 7. Scheduled to begin hitting off a tee with an underload (light) bat on Sept. 16 and will progress from there

Yoshida: Is walking on a treadmill and not close to a return. (Last updated: Sept. 9)

Kelly: Has progressed to throwing live batting practice in Fort Myers, Fla. (Last updated: Sept. 9)

Slaten: Season is over after doctors found degenerative changes in his right flexor mass. Will receive a PRP injection and rehab the injury.

Rivera: Had been on 7-day IL in Minors since Aug. 13. Was recalled on Sept. 1 and placed on 60-day IL to open a 40-man roster spot. (Last updated: Sept. 1)

Casas: Underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left wrist and is likely out for the season. 

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Your Slaten prognosis snuck into Rafaela's summary -- scared me for a sec.

New York's replay command center tried to say there was no definitive way to overrule your post and I told them to eat the big apple because on talksox, only moon can and will edit his own typing!

[moonslav59]

5 minutes ago, 5GoldGlovesOF,75 said:

... only moon can and will edit his own typing!

I thought nobody noticed.

It's the OCD in me.

[a700hitter]

3 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

Casas: Underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left wrist and is likely out for the season. 

Likely? 🤣

[a700hitter]

Will Rafaela also miss the playoffs?

[a700hitter]

7 hours ago, mvp 78 said:

I had high hopes for him.

[moonslav59]

30 minutes ago, a700hitter said:

I had high hopes for him.

I expected at least one more start from Oviedo, Crochet, Houck or Crawford.

It's rather stunning how well we've done without these 4 for all but 6 starts from Crochet.

Add to this the Bello starter yips, and it seems near impossible.

[mvp 78]

16 hours ago, moonslav59 said:

These guys starting rehabs in September are just prepping for 2027.

Houck has had a few outings, so maybe he gets a look-see, but time is running out.

I think you get these guys back now, just so that they feel confident and can have a "normal" offseason rather than worrying about if they are still injured or not. 

[moonslav59]

49 minutes ago, mvp 78 said:

I think you get these guys back now, just so that they feel confident and can have a "normal" offseason rather than worrying about if they are still injured or not. 

Yup.

Zero expectation to help in 2026.

 

[drewski6]

1 hour ago, moonslav59 said:

Yup.

Zero expectation to help in 2026.

 

Houck and Oviedo - sure, but Crochet doesnt belong in the same category as those 2.  Especially with Slaten going down and Miller struggling.  Game 3 against the yankees protecting a 1 run inning in the ninth with 2 dangerous lefties coming up, I may go Crochet over Chapman.

[drewski6]

To me Houck and Oviedo are 100% gearing up to compete for a spot in the rotation in 2027 (far from guaranteed for both).  Crochet, Im really really hoping we get something from in 2026, but my confidence is not as high as it was 2 weeks ago.  

[mvp 78]

4 hours ago, drewski6 said:

I may go Crochet over Chapman.

Great call.

 

[moonslav59]

8 hours ago, drewski6 said:

Houck and Oviedo - sure, but Crochet doesnt belong in the same category as those 2.  Especially with Slaten going down and Miller struggling.  Game 3 against the yankees protecting a 1 run inning in the ninth with 2 dangerous lefties coming up, I may go Crochet over Chapman.

Crochet is better, but I think Houck is closer to "ready."

Oviedo is not as close as Houck and is the worst of the 3, so I'm not sure he gets a look before the season ends, and no way do I bring him up for his first game back vs the Yanks in NY.

I'm not counting on any pitcher returning.

[a700hitter]

The Red Sox crack medical staff strikes again.

[moonslav59]

There does seem to be a little better injury outlook this winter than last, but I'm so tired of wishing against wishes that some good players return from the IL to lead us to more and more wins. It just never seems to happen for the Sox. Okay, Giolito came back to give us one good year. A few others have, too, but the last two years were absurd.

I'm still worried about Anthony, since nobody seems to even know what's wrong and why he isn't healing.

The 2026 returns of Crochet, Houck, Crawford and Mead were so late it seemed almost comedic. Crawford was literally scheduled to start AAA's last game of the season then it was cancelled. Still, they look more ready than they did last winter or on opening day.

Oviedo was viewed as healthy on opening day, and now looks more suspect, but he never had the high hopes of Mead, Houck or Crawford. (maybe close to Crawford.)

Slaten is maybe more suspect than before, but nobody has felt secure about Slaten's health- same with Casas and Kelly. We are finally done with Sandoval.

We have worries about Crochet, but last winter we did have worries about him leading the AL in IP in 2025 after never coming close to that many IP before. Crochet did come back to pitch.

I'm not lessening the concerns on Mead, Crochet, Houck, Crawford, Oviedo and now Whitlock, but they all should be projected to be fine to enter ST'ing ready to go full steam ahead.

Slaten, Casas and Anthony still have big questions in my mind. Only Anthony really matters.

Every player in MLB has questions. How secure do Yankee fans have in Judge, anymore? When he has been healthy in the playoffs, he's stumbled and bumbled to a pretty large extent. Of course, I'm not saying I wouldn't want Judge on my team over almost everyone we have, and of course, the Yanks proved they had a better team behind Judge, than we had behind Anthony, Mead and Crochet, but still, nobody in baseball is a sure bet.

As much as Brez has gotten grief, and some to much of it has been justifiable, he did make an effort to greatly improve the offense. It seemed like most of us felt he came up short, last winter, when he chose to sign Suarez after losing out on Bregman, but he did add Contreras, who did better than a 35 year old player should have. He added Durbin, who hit close to .800 over the last 2/3 of the season. That clearly was not enough to make up for losing Bregman and Devers. The Anthony injury did not help, but we did not really have more than our fair share of injuries on offense than most teams.

The thing Brez did that no GM has done in a long time- even DD never did this: added two significant mid season upgrades on offense. Rutschman (.753 career and .740 in 2026) promised at least a 100 point OPS gain over Narvaez (.626 career) & Wong (.676 career but .586 since 2025.) Mead might be more speculative in projected production, but he was at .850 before his injury. That's over 150 points higher than our 2B OPS for many many years. Mead's immediate injury kinda made his addition forgotten. It was a valiant try by Brez.

Of course, we need more than just valiant attempts: we need results, and while we got good to great results from his 3 major winter additions- Gray, Contreras and Suarez, we needed even more and even better. I'll end by asking this question: when was the last time a Sox GM's 3 major winter moves gave results like those three?

I'm hopeful his 2 major summer additions produce similar results in 2027. I'm hopeful Brez adds another 1-2 productive pieces this coming winter.

[moonslav59]

Update on 15 players...

Durbin had surgery to repair his left pinky finger PIP joint. He had played through the partial dislocation over the final 3 months of the season.

Anthony's right hand strains does not require surgery, but I have my doubts that they even know what's wrong, and more importantly, why it hasn't healed in the normal timeframe for these types of injuries.

Crochet, Houck, Oviedo and Crawford were all back pitching at the end of the season and should be 100% healthy on day one of ST'ing.

Whitlock played through a fractured tibia for about a month. He does not need surgery. He'll wear a boot for 4-6 weeks and apparently be 100% ready for ST'ing's start.

T Guerrero had a grade 2 lat strain and shoulder strain. Apparently, he needs a month to recover, but we know how that goes with Sox pitchers.

Yoshida had a serious left hamstring injury. He's another Sox player expected to be fully healed by the start of ST'ing.

Romy had returned from his major shoulder surgery. He was playing. He should be 100% for the start of ST'ing.

Eduardo Rivera had a lumbar strain and was pitching in AAA to end the season. He should be okay for 2027, but is a bubble roster player.

Zack Kelly did return from elbow injury and pitched at WOO, but he may be non tendered.

Gasper underwent distal right biceps tendon surgery and is expected to miss 4-6 weeks. A ruptured tendon (torn from the bone) is serious. The surgery was Oct 2, so 6 months is April 2- missing all of ST'ing. He may be placed on thh 60 Day IL when ST'ing begins.

Eli White had successful Lisfranc ligament repair surgery (right foot/ankle), which normally takes 6 months to heal. He is out of options and may be non tendered.

Tristan Casas has been a walking time bomb. In May or '25 he ruptured his left patellar tendon but then strained his left abdominal/oblique earlier this year. Somehow, he hurt his left wrist along the way to recovery and had arthroscopic wrist surgery in August. There is no telling when or if he'll every be healthy again. He may also end up being non tendered.