Red Sox's Kutter Crawford Peels Back Curtain On Injury Recovery, Return Timeline

It will be a different season for Crawford in 2025 on many levels...

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

For better or worse, Kutter Crawford was able to answer the bell for the Boston Red Sox in 2024.

In his first full season in Major League Baseball, Crawford made 33 starts, tying for the league lead. He also led the team with 175 strikeouts. But he gave up the most home runs of any MLB pitcher (34) and ultimately finished the season with a mediocre 4.36 ERA.

Crawford's performance dipped sharply in the second half of the season, and part of the reason for his struggles revealed itself early in spring training, when it was revealed that the right-hander was behind in his throwing progression with patellar tendinitis.

It has since been announced that Crawford will begin the season on the injured list, though he hopes to return at some point in April. But the 28-year-old revealed in a recent interview that the knee issue is one he has dealt with for a long time, and won't likely go away altogether.

On Monday, Sean McAdam of MassLive published an interview with Crawford in which the starter discussed his plan for rehab and pain management entering the season.

“The surgery for this type of stuff is something that isn’t necessarily (a fast recovery time), which isn’t great,” Crawford said. “So we’re taking the more physical therapy-type route. I can still push (off the knee); when it flares up, the body reacts to it and the brain’s telling my body, ‘Hey, we got something going on.’ By strengthening everything around it and cleaned up mechanics, it shouldn’t really be much of an issue.

“I kind of know what it’s going to be like. I’ve had this issue since being drafted. It just got really bad last year. It’s one of those things where we’ll manage it. It shouldn’t be something that hinders me. With the long-tossing the last two or three weeks, I feel like I’m in a much better spot than I was a month ago, for sure.”

Crawford also mentioned that the injury was aggravated during his third start of the 2024 season when he felt stabbing pain stepping on first base. He said he was "throwing on one leg, essentially" for much of the season.

The good news, from Boston's perspective, is that the team doesn't need Crawford to rush back. He won't make 33 starts again, but it's likely he'll be a big part of the rotation at some point, and hopefully, he'll be in a lot less pain this time around.