The Boston Red Sox on July 25 began their trade deadline buying by trading for Curtis Mead. There are other trade candidates still on Boston's radar, but it's also hoping for internal reinforcements as some players push to return from injury.
Unfortunately, not all of their injury updates are good. Christopher Smith of MassLive reported on July 28 that Marcelo Mayer and Isiah Kiner-Falefa have begun hitting progressions, and that nothing has changed with Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet's recoveries. In their cases, no update is the worst kind of update.
Crochet has been on the injured list since April 26 and Anthony since May 5. Crochet's IL stint began due to shoulder inflammation, but he pushed to return so quickly that he ended up with a lat strain that is the reason he's still out of commission. Anthony has a partially-torn ligament in his hand.
The two players are stuck at the phase immediately before ramping up — Crochet has begun exercises to strengthen his rotator cuff but does not have plans to start throwing yet and the Sox are waiting for Anthony to be symptom-free before he starts swinging. The Red Sox have placed their estimated returns at sometime in September and August, respectively, but that seems optimistic at this point.
Still no progress in Red Sox stars Roman Anthony and Garrett Crochet's injury recoveries
It will take Crochet weeks to go from throwing, to bullpen sessions to live batting practice and the same goes for Anthony with dry swings, hitting off a tee and hitting at full speed, likely with more steps in between. Both players will then have to go for rehab assignments, likely for the full 20-day stint since neither has played in three months.
It's no secret that the Red Sox have played well without Anthony and Crochet. Neither was present for the 15-game winning streak that shot them into a Wild Card spot and neither has been critical to the success of the club this year. But having them back before the real playoff push begins could prevent the Red Sox from trading for depth pieces they may not have otherwise needed.
But given the status of their recoveries, it sounds like Boston shouldn't bank on getting either player back this year, at least not before the last weeks of the season to October. The rest of the Red Sox's trade deadline decisions may have to reflect this.
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