Red Sox Place Crochet on 15-Day IL with Shoulder Inflammation

The Boston Red Sox placed ace left-hander Garrett Crochet on the 15-day injured list Wednesday with left shoulder inflammation, retroactive to April 26, dealing another blow to a struggling rotation ahead of their series finale against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The team recalled utilityman Nate Eaton from Triple-A Worcester to fill Crochet's spot on the 26-man roster. Eaton is batting .292 with three home runs and 12 RBI in 27 games this season at Worcester. He previously appeared in 41 games for Boston last year and played for Kansas City in 2022 and 2023.

Crochet, a two-time All-Star and last year's American League Cy Young Award runner-up, has posted a 3-3 record and 6.30 ERA over six starts this season, totaling 30 innings. His performance has been inconsistent, highlighted by a career-worst outing on April 13 at Minnesota, where he allowed 10 earned runs over 1 2/3 innings. He gave up five runs across five innings in his next start against Detroit on April 19. Crochet rebounded in his most recent appearance on April 25 at Baltimore, delivering six shutout innings with seven strikeouts in a 17-1 victory, which marked manager Alex Cora's final game before his firing along with...