ANAHEIM, Calif. — Kutter Crawford will have surgery on his right wrist, likely ending his season, following an off-field “accident,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced Wednesday.
That is another bad blow both for Crawford, who had been sidelined with a knee issue, and for the team, with an expected rotation stalwart no longer an option.
“He’s down. It’s been a tough year for him,” Cora said before the Sox faced the Angels in a series and road-trip finale. “From spring training to getting ready to this, it happened and now surgery. It hasn’t been a great year for him.”
Cora declined to elaborate on how Crawford sustained the injury other than to say “it wasn’t irresponsible.”
“I’m not going to get into details,” Cora said. “It’s not disappointing (to the organization). It’s just an accident. It [stinks] that it happened this way.”
Crawford, 29, led the Red Sox in starts (33) and innings (183⅔) in 2024 and figured to be an important innings eater in the middle of back of the rotation this year.
But he pitched through right knee pain almost all of last year and continued to deal with it over the winter. When the knee still bothered him entering spring training, he was behind the other pitchers from the jump and opened the year on the injured list with right patellar tendinopathy.
Crawford had been on the brink of starting a minor league rehabilitation assignment when the wrist issue popped up. He and the Sox tried rest for a few days, but when he tried to resume playing catch and throwing bullpen sessions, he couldn’t continue.
“It [stinks], right,” Cora said. “We were talking about how deep we were in spring training and the options that we had in the starting rotation. Now it’s getting thinner and thinner.”
Aside from Garrett Crochet, who leads the majors with a 2.06 ERA and 135 strikeouts (the first pitcher in franchise history to post those numbers in his first 17 starts with the team), the Red Sox have struggled to find any consistency in their rotation.
Sox starters rank 22nd in ERA (4.29) and 23rd in WHIP (1.36). Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello have improved lately, but Walker Buehler has struggled and rookies Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins have filled out the No. 5 spot.
Tanner Houck (right flexor pronator strain) is on a rehab assignment. Kyle Harrison, recently acquired from the Giants in the Rafael Devers deal, could be an option come July.
The missing bats
Alex Bregman probably will not return from a strained right quad until after the All-Star break, according to Cora. That would mean July 18 at the earliest.
“I don’t want to put timetables, but it looks that way,” he said.
Bregman has continued to make steady progress, but the Red Sox have consistently preached caution.
“He keeps saying that he feels great,” Cora said. “No baseball activities yet. He’s running, in a good spot physically.”
Masataka Yoshida, however, is closer to finally returning after offseason surgery on his right shoulder. He is due to begin a rehab assignment Tuesday with Triple A Worcester, per Cora.
Slaten still slow
What the Red Sox thought would be a couple of away weeks for reliever Justin Slaten is turning into much more.
Nearly a month since the team put him on the IL with right shoulder inflammation — which they later discovered was a nerve issue in his neck, Slaten said recently — he still has not begun throwing.
That echoes his experience last year, when he was out with an elbow issue for what they thought would be a brief stint. He missed about a month and a half.
“We’ve been through this drill before,” Cora said. “Last year it was the same way. Has it hurt us? Of course. He’s one of the best relievers we have.”
Former Sox pitcher Seguí dies
Diego Seguí, whose long career in professional baseball included two seasons with the Red Sox, died on Tuesday. The righthander from Cuba was 87.
Seguí got his start in 1958 in the Arizona-Mexico League. He was called up by the Kansas City Athletics in 1962 and went on to play parts of 15 seasons in the majors.
He was 92-111 with a 3.81 ERA and 71 saves over 639 games, 171 of them starts. The Red Sox acquired Seguí from the Cardinals in a five-player trade before the 1973 season.
Seguí pitched in 91 games for the Sox, going 8-13 with a 4.32 ERA and 16 saves.
He also pitched a scoreless inning in Game 5 of the 1975 World Series.
His son, David Seguí, was a first baseman and left fielder who played in the majors from 1990-2004.
Campbell’s newest spot
In his return to Worcester’s lineup, Kristian Campbell made his debut at first base Wednesday. He had stayed back for a couple of days — as the team went on the road — for more concerted work with the player development staff … One injured pitcher seemingly recovering as expected: Dobbins (right elbow strain). He played catch Wednesday for the first time since going on the IL on Sunday and is lined up for a bullpen session this weekend … Jordan Hicks (right big toe inflammation) will make his second rehab appearance for Worcester on Friday, pushed back from Wednesday.
Peter Abraham of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Tim Healey can be reached at timothy.healey@globe.com. Follow him @timbhealey.