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Boston Globe
20-07-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
As Garrett Crochet piles up the innings, Red Sox will allow ace extra rest in second half
And while the Sox are not looking to limit Crochet's workload, manager Alex Cora said Saturday they did give him the few extra days from his last start of the first half July 12, when he threw a complete-game three-hitter in a 1-0 win over Tampa Bay, and will again before he pitches Saturday at home against the Dodgers. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'It is a good time for him to reset, you know, and go from there,' Cora said. 'But there's no limitations. We're going to keep going and keep pushing and use the schedule to our advantage and the rest of the guys, and there's a reason he's here. And just like everybody else, at one point, you have to throw 30 starts, and he's on his way to doing that.' Advertisement Crochet has more than proved himself worth the price Boston paid in top prospects when they acquired him last December in a trade with the White Sox, standing among top Cy Young candidates at the break. Pomeranz reminisces The easy way for Red Sox fans to remember pitcher Drew Pomeranz is for his stellar 2017 season (17-6, 3.32 ERA), but those really paying attention also recall Pomeranz for a unique 2018 moment. Injuries derailed him that season but ultimately didn't keep him off the 2018 World Series roster. It was there, in the epic 18-inning loss to the Dodgers in Game 3, that Pomeranz was the only last available pitcher in the Sox bullpen by the time it was over. 'He was our last man standing,' manager Alex Cora said, smiling. Now in the Cubs' bullpen, the 36-year-old lefty shared fond memories of his time in Boston — 'I had the best years of my career and the worst of times with injuries in Boston,' he said — but admitted he barely recognizes his old team, with his last remaining ex-Sox teammate, Rafael Devers , having been traded to the Giants in June. But Pomeranz did make sure to connect with Cora and some other staff members still here. 'They've got some good young players that have been playing well of late, and it's good to see the exciting players, but there's so much turnover,' Pomeranz said. On Friday night, he came out of the bullpen to get a key out against one of those rising stars, retiring Roman Anthony with two on in the seventh inning of a 4-1 Cubs win. Advertisement Said Cora: 'Seems like Drew's been on the verge of retiring like 10 times since 2018, and he's still doing a good job. We've stayed in touch throughout the years … He was a guy we liked, we really enjoyed, and I'm glad he's still doing it.' Injury updates Cora finally had an answer — well, sort of — about righthander Tanner Houck . Houck has been returned from his rehab assignment but will stay on the injured list as he continues to work his way back from the right flexor issue that had kept him from the roster for two months. Cora said Houck is in Boston with trainers and the team has 10 days before he can start a new rehab assignment. … Cora said reliever Justin Slaten (right shoulder) has started playing catch, which he described as 'a big step.' Liam Hendricks (hip) is throwing up to 120 feet, and reliever Luis Guerrero 'is about to start throwing bullpens in Fort Myers,' Cora said. Tara Sullivan is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at
Chicago Tribune
18-04-2025
- Sport
- Chicago Tribune
Column: It's a turbulent week for Chicago's top sports executives, who could use a group hug
Sometimes the planets mysteriously align and the top executives of our five legacy sports teams endure a crisis or two at the same time. This is one of those occasions, a week in which the bosses of the Bears, Bulls, Cubs, White Sox and Blackhawks could send a 'Hang in there' text and fist-bump emoji on their group chat, knowing they all could use a group hug. Our five fearless executives go by different titles but have two things in common: They work for a professional sports franchise in Chicago and have received poor job performance reviews from their respective fan bases. Bears general manager Ryan Poles, Bulls executive vice president of basketball operations Artūras Karnišovas, Cubs president of baseball operations Jed Hoyer, Sox GM Chris Getz and Hawks GM Kyle Davidson — also known by their pseudonyms, 'Poles,' 'AK,' 'Jed,' 'Getz' and 'Kyle from Chicago' — have all had an interesting week. Let's start with Karnišovas, who held his annual autopsy Thursday after the Bulls' play-in implosion and actually answered a question from CHGO's Will Gottlieb by pointing out that Gottlieb 'projected' the Bulls to win 28 games and instead they won 39. Scientists might have to do studies to find any human being, outside the White House, with thinner skin than AK. Karnišovas brought up the Bulls' 15-5 finish and asked for patience, downplaying Wednesday's brutal ending as angry Bulls fans watched the Miami Heat outsmart, outcoach and outhustle their team in a gruesome, season-ending 109-90 loss. It was gaslighting at its finest. You can only imagine how Karnišovas felt when he logged on to his laptop Thursday morning and saw that his old trading partner, Sacramento Kings GM Monte McNair, already had been jettisoned after Wednesday's play-in loss to the Dallas Mavericks. 'Wow,' he might have thought in a brief moment of self-awareness. 'Lucky me!' Many owners would look at the Bulls' 195-205 record in Karnišovas' five years on the job and ask themselves whether a change is mandatory to appease an impatient fan base. So look for an extension for AK from the ruling Reinsdorfs, Jerry and Michael, who aren't in any hurry to mess with the status quo. Next up is Getz, who sarcastically 'guaranteed' before the season the Sox would not lose 121 games again, getting a big laugh for his bold projection. Even a younger and less talented roster couldn't repeat that nightmare, right? Right? But the Sox are 4-14 after Thursday's 8-0 loss to the Athletics at Rate Field and are hitting .196 as a team. The 'No-Hitter Alert' chyron will be on autoplay for Sox games on Chicago Sports Network, as it was Sunday for Garrett Crochet's no-hit bid in his return to the South Side. Getz had reason this spring to be optimistic thanks to the play of future ex-Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr., his only real trade chip. But Robert has started off slow again and is hitting .136 with a .438 OPS — one of three in Thursday's lineup at .450 or below with Miguel Vargas (.449) and Andrew Vaughn (.450). Robert on Saturday ended a 46-game homerless streak that conjured memories of Tim Anderson's 96-game streak that ended July 29, 2023. The longer Getz waits, the lower Robert's trade value. Meanwhile, Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf might have to hire 24/7 security to make sure Getz doesn't accidentally call Mike Clevinger's agent and try to re-sign the injury-plagued pitcher for a fourth term on the South Side. The Sox won't pony up to pay their top young starters for fear of injuries, but all bargain-basement signees are welcome, no matter their injury history. Maybe the eventual Justin Ishbia era will change this philosophy, but would Ishbia give Getz the benefit of the doubt like Reinsdorf has? On the other side of town, Hoyer, Getz's BFF, is the only legacy team executive with a real chance to make the postseason in 2025. The Cubs' 12-9 start, despite a difficult early schedule, is encouraging, though not yet cause for division title fever. The Cubs love to use the word 'depth,' as in the depth created by one of the top-rated farm systems, the depth of the overhauled bench and the depth of the rotation, with more starters stretching out at Triple-A Iowa. But now that Justin Steele is out for the year, we'll find out whether the Cubs actually are deep in key areas or just like saying it a lot. An early bullpen crisis has been a recurring theme during Hoyer's presidency, and he's in the middle of another one. The Cubs handed rookie Matt Shaw the third base job after failing to sign free agent Alex Bregman, despite an oblique injury that limited Shaw's playing time in spring training. Shaw struggled and was sent back to Iowa, where he probably should've begun the season until he got more comfortable at the plate. Hoyer's contract is expiring, making him the Cubs' first lame-goose president. The switch from lame duck to lame goose is necessary to honor the beloved and departed Wrigley goose, which was nesting comfortably in the bleachers during the last homestand but flew the coop, apparently realizing it wasn't part of the Cubs' depth. The Blackhawks have a surplus of young talent but no indication it will lead to winning in the near future. Davidson's fourth season in charge, including one as interim GM, ended with the NHL's second-worst record. No surprise. Rebuilds take a while. But, like AK, Davidson can point to the Hawks' big finish — 4-1-1 in their last six games — as the real story of 2024-25. This qualifies as a tangible bright spot in the rebuild that keeps on building. Re-signing Ryan Donato is Davidson's primary task, though he also must decide whether to hire interim coach Anders Sörensen — who replaced Luke Richardson in early December and posted an unimpressive .361 winning percentage in 54 games — or find a new coach to serve as a coat holder until the rebuild finally turns the corner and a bigger name can reap the benefits of Connor Bedard's prime. University of Denver coach David Carle is reportedly the hottest prospect, though he's unproven at the NHL level like the last three Hawks coaches: Jeremy Colliton, Richardson and Sörensen. 'If the right candidate comes along sooner than (the draft and free agency), that's fine,' Davidson said Thursday. 'If they come along later in the process and down weeks, months, that's how it plays out.' In other words, sooner or maybe later. Thanks, Kyle from Chicago. No matter whom Davidson hires, the Hawks need to fast-forward this machine next season to keep Chairman Danny Wirtz happy. Bedard won't be a precocious kid forever. Of all our Big Five execs, Poles had the easiest week by far, signing cornerback Kyler Gordon and linebacker T.J. Edwards to contract extensions and practicing his draft-day speech for next Thursday. Poles seems to enjoy secrecy and keeping people guessing. But everyone knew whom the Bears would pick with the No. 1 selection in last year's draft, so the only pressure on Poles was to look and sound cool. Few Bears employees came off cooler in 'Hard Knocks' than Poles, who also showed his tender side in the tear-jerking scene in which he informed safety Adrian Colbert he wouldn't make the final roster. Poles didn't receive an Emmy and the Bears went on to finish 5-12, but few blamed Poles for the disaster. That will change if the Bears waste another first-round pick, and there's much debate over what Poles will do with the No. 10 selection. Another offensive lineman? A running back? A tight end? The proverbial 'best player available'?
