Brayan Bello
The Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees rivalry — often called the greatest not only in baseball, but in all sports — has largely lain dormant since 2021. That was the last year the two arch-rivals played a game that really mattered. But as the Red Sox finished what experts described as a “Grade A” offseason, Boston was hit with twin setbacks in its quest to rekindle the rivalry with the defending American League champion Yankees.
Two important Red Sox pitchers, manager Alex Cora revealed, are continuing to struggle with injuries that may endanger their readiness for Opening Day, which this season for Boston happens on March 27 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The Red Sox will take on the 2023 World Series champion Texas Rangers.
The year 2021 was when the the Red Sox and Yankees finished tied for the American League Wild Card playoff spot, each winning 92 games. That was also the final season with only two Wild Card teams per league. The teams would then meet in an intense, one-game playoff for the right to advance to the Division Series.
By virtue of winning the regular season series 10-9 over the Yankees, the Red Sox secured home field advantage in the one-game playoff, and proceeded to rock Yankees ace Gerrit Cole for three runs in his first two innings in front of a rowdy Fenway Park crowd, on their way to a 6-2 victory.
Offseason Sets up Red Sox to Resurrect Rivalry
In 2025, however, Boston team president Sam Kennedy has said the goal is not simply to get into the Wild Card playoffs, but to overtake the Yankees and win the AL East. To do that, the Red Sox made three important acquisitions during what Fangraphs analyst Ben Clemens called “a brilliant offseason.”
The Red Sox traded for Chicago White Sox ace lefty Garrett Crochet to lead the starting rotation, and signed Los Angeles Dodgers World Series mound hero Walker Buehler to add even greater rotation depth. The signing of free agent infielder Alex Bregman — on the day that spring training camp opened this week — capped off the Red Sox rebuild.
But the Boston club will need more than those three players to compete with or, they hope, overtake the Yankees atop the AL East. They will need the whole depth of their 40-man roster. However, on Friday, Cora acknowledged that two starting pitchers, 25-year-old Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford, 28, are both suffering from injuries and remain behind schedule in their recoveries.
Cora revealed that Crawford, who battled through a 9-16 season allowing a league-leading 34 home runs but, notably, also led the Majors (in a tie with six-other pitchers) by making 33 starts — began suffering from right patellar tendon soreness toward the end of the 2024 season, but continued to pitch despite the injury.
Injury Setbacks to Key Pitchers Cause Concern
For the right-handed Crawford, that means he experienced soreness in the knee he uses to push off the rubber when delivering a pitch — obviously a difficult injury for any pitcher.
“Kutter is a little bit behind,” Cora told the media Friday. “It’s been going on through the offseason so he’s behind in his throwing program. I don’t know what that means as far as like, a month from now, or a month and a half from now, but right now he’s behind everybody else.”
As for Bello, the righty’s shoulder soreness may be even more concerning, appearing at the start of spring training camp. The injury forced the team to take the Samana, Dominican Republic, native off the mound completely. But he resumed a throwing program on Friday. The setback, however, his put him on a slower path toward Opening Day than the team’s other starting pitchers.
Bello has been injured in all three of his Major League seasons so far, with an adductor strain on his 2022 rookie season, inflammation in his pitching elbow in 2023, and tightness in his latissimus dorsi, a major back muscle, last season.
