Red Sox Alarm Bells Ringing Around Kutter Crawford

The Boston Red Sox hurler is trying to work his way back up to the big league club.

Sep 28, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Kutter Crawford (50) walks of the field after being taken out of the game in the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images | Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox have had two veteran hurlers down in the minors on a rehab assignment in Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval.

These two have been coupled together for a while at this point. Both missed the entire 2025 season and were going to be in the mix for the No. 5 spot in the club's rotation, but neither was ready to begin the 2026 season in the majors. Crawford and Sandoval have both made one appearance each with Triple-A Worcester. Crawford allowed five earned runs in three innings of work on April 11. Sandoval allowed zero earned runs, but three runs total, in 3 1/3 innings pitched on April 8.

Things took a bit of a turn on Tuesday, though. MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo reported on X that Crawford has been returned from Triple-A Worcester to Boston from his rehab assignment, but the reason hasn't been reported yet, as of writing. Cotillo did not know that it was injury-related and not trade-related.

"Red Sox have pulled Kutter Crawford off his rehab assignment. No word why," Cotillo wrote. "This is injury-related and not a trade when this happens [by the way]."

Kutter Crawford Returned to Boston

Feb 17, 2026; Lee County, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Kutter Crawford (50) poses for a photo during media day at JetBlue Park. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Until the club makes an announcement, everything is up in the air. But what we know now is that Crawford's minor league rehab assignment has been paused after one appearance and Cotillo noted that these situations typically are "injury-related" and not trade-related.

At first glance, it's not very positive. Crawford missed the entire 2025 season after leading the league with 33 starts in 2024. On Tuesday, another player around the league was returned from a minor league rehab assignment and it was injury-related. Jackson Holliday was working his way back to the Baltimore Orioles but has been shut down due to wrist soreness, per Andy Kostka of The Baltimore Banner. Now, one person's injury doesn't impact another, of course. But this is an example of what happened throughout the league on Tuesday when a different player was returned from a minor league rehab assignment.

Based on Cotillo's comments, the most likely option appears to be some sort of setback and pause. If he were fully healthy and ready to roll, the Red Sox could've added him on Tuesday instead of fellow right-handed pitcher Jack Anderson, but that didn't happen.

Being returned from a rehab assignment without another word right away certainly raises the alarm bell. The best-case scenario would of course be a pause for any other reason than an injury setback. The worst-case scenario would be re-aggravating his injury and missing more time. We will keep you updated as information surfaces, but this isn't a great update right now.