Red Sox pitcher Kutter Crawford’s off-field ‘accident’ requires season-ending wrist surgery

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ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Kutter Crawford had an off-field “accident” that requires season-ending surgery on his right throwing wrist, Red Sox manager Alex Cora said on Wednesday, adding that the 29-year-old wasn’t doing anything “irresponsible.”

“It hasn’t been a great year for him,” Cora said. “It (stinks) that it happened this way, but it’s just an accident.”

Crawford has been sidelined all season by a right-knee injury that he initially suffered in his third game of 2024, a season in which he went 9-6 with a 4.36 ERA in 33 starts, tied for the most starts in the American League.

“It (stinks) because we were talking about how deep we were in spring training, and the options that we had in the rotation,” Cora said before the series finale against the Los Angeles Angels. “And now it’s getting thinner and thinner.”

Crawford was one of baseball’s most durable pitchers in 2024 despite pitching most of the season with patellar-tendon discomfort, leading the Red Sox with 183 ⅔ innings pitched and 175 strikeouts, but he also gave up a major league-high 34 homers.

Crawford hoped to recover with a full winter of rest and rehabilitation, but he suffered a setback during the offseason and was unable to pitch in spring training. He was placed on the 60-day injured list in March.

Cora also said that third baseman Alex Bregman, who has been out since May 23 because of a quadriceps injury, probably won’t return until after the All-Star break.

Bregman, who was batting .299 with a .938 OPS, 11 homers, 17 doubles, 35 RBIs and 32 runs in 51 games when he suffered the injury, has been running but has not resumed baseball activities.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb