Red Sox Take Another Hit With Patrick Sandoval Setback

The Boston Red Sox got some more bad news on Sunday from a pitching depth perspective.

Boston has had two veteran hurlers down in the minors on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester in Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval. It was shared earlier in the week that Crawford was returned to Boston and his rehab assignment was paused due to elbow soreness. MassLive.com's Chris Cotillo reported on Saturday that Crawford is waiting for clarity after undergoing an MRI.

Unfortunately, he isn't the only hurler who has had their rehab assignment paused. Cotillo reported on Sunday that Sandoval is back in Boston right now after feeling tightness in his bicep after his most recent outing.

"After his last rehab start, Patrick Sandoval felt biceps tightness. He is back in Boston to be looked at," Cotillo wrote

More Bad News For Patrick Sandoval

Patrick Sandoval hands the ball to manager Chad Tracy in the fourth inning of his rehab start in Worcester April 8. | Rick Cinclair/Telegram & Gazette / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Boston's pitching depth already looks significantly different than it did when the season began. Johan Oviedo is on the Injured List and now both Crawford and Sandoval are completely up in the air for the time being. Payton Tolle is the next man up for Boston right now if some sort of injury were to pop up. In fact, Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reported on Sunday that Tolle was scratched from a start for Triple-A Worcester so he could be a potential option for Boston if the club has a doubleheader on Monday.

Right now, the Red Sox are one injury away from needing Tolle to be a consistent member of the big league club. What if multiple injuries were to pop up? Right now, the Red Sox have already lost Oviedo and now are waiting for answers about Crawford and Sandoval. The story of Spring Training was the club's pitching depth. Now, three of those arms are on the shelf.

Soon enough, if this trend holds, the Red Sox will need to add even more depth at some point.

The 2026 season hasn't gone as planned for the Red Sox, to say the least. This is yet another tough update and now we wait to see what comes of Sandoval's bicep soreness.

Neither Sandoval nor Crawford can catch a break. Both Sandoval and Crawford missed the entire 2025 season. Now, we're over 10 percent of the way through the 2026 season and there is no end in sight for either. Hopefully, this is just a bit of a snag and we see both back on the mound in the very near future.

Add us as a preferred source on Google