Red Sox add Garrett Crochet to Wild Card bullpen and choose 12 pitchers

Garrett Crochet is back on the Red Sox roster. How often Boston can use him is still an open question.

The left-hander made the 26-man roster for the American League Wild Card Series against the Yankees on Tuesday, his first opportunity to pitch in a major league game since April 25. A left shoulder injury cost him most of the season. His return gives manager Chad Tracy another bullpen option for the best-of-three series, with his workload far short of a starter's.

MLB's Ian Browne reports that Crochet is likely to work an inning, possibly part of a second. Tracy has not committed to using him more than once. The training staff will continue checking his strength after throwing to determine what comes next.

That uncertainty helped shape the rest of Boston's roster. The Red Sox chose 12 pitchers and 14 position players. Carrying the additional arm gives Tracy coverage if Crochet cannot return on a particular day or provide enough outs to bridge a short start.

The cost was a spot for Braiden Ward, whose 61 stolen bases at Triple-A Worcester made him a potential pinch-running specialist. Nate Eaton made the roster and gives Boston speed plus outfield defense. The club's roster announcement explains that Boston likely would have carried 11 pitchers and Ward had it left Crochet off.

Seven of the 12 pitchers are left-handers. Injuries to right-handed setup men Tyron Guerrero and Justin Slaten contributed to that balance. Crochet adds another left-handed option, but Boston still needs enough healthy pitchers around him to handle the series if his appearances are limited.

The comeback decision followed two live batting-practice sessions over the final week of the regular season. Browne reported that Crochet reached 96.5 mph in one of them. The Red Sox then waited for the next-day strength checks before putting him on Tuesday's roster. Rob Bradford's reporting also confirms the activation and the decision to leave Ward off.

Relief work is familiar to Crochet: his first 72 major league appearances came out of the White Sox bullpen. Still, a five-month absence makes this a different assignment from last October, when he gave Boston 7 2/3 innings in a Wild Card win at Yankee Stadium.

Boston can now choose a matchup for him. Whether it can choose another one later in the series depends on how he responds to the first.