Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said Thursday that Crochet (shoulder/lat) has yet to resume a formal throwing program and is limited to playing catch with weighted plyometric balls, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.
Initially placed on the injured list April 29 due to shoulder inflammation, Crochet advanced to facing live hitters in late May, but after experiencing a setback and being diagnosed with a low-grade lat strain, he's essentially back to square one in the rehab process. While he hasn't been shut down from activity entirely, Crochet will need to eventually restart a throwing progression before the Red Sox have a better sense of when he might be ready to return. Even if he gets the green light to start playing catch with a baseball during the All-Star break, Crochet would likely need at least a month to check all the boxes in his throwing program and complete a rehab assignment, so a return in late August probably represents a best-case scenario for the 27-year-old.