Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet to skip All-Star Game, citing heavy workload in first half; Alex Bregman activated off IL and will make season debut on Friday night

Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet will not pitch in the All-Star Game next week in Atlanta, Major League Baseball announced on Friday afternoon.

Tigers starter Casey Mize will replace Crochet on the AL roster, giving Detroit six total All-Stars.

Crochet is opting out of pitching in the Mid-Summer Classic to get extra rest after a heavy first-half workload, which will increase as the season continues on. There’s a strong chance that Crochet will pitch over 200 innings for the first time in his career.

“For me, it’s just looking at my past four years,” Crochet said. “In 2022, I threw zero innings. In ‘23, I threw 13. Last year, I threw 146, and this year I’m on pace for 200. From my standpoint, it makes no sense to make that 201 to throw in a game that doesn’t determine my team’s fate throughout the season.

“Especially because we’re looking at the postseason,” he continued. “If I threw 20 innings in the postseason, I’m almost 100 innings over last year, which was over 100 innings above the year prior. It just didn’t make sense to me.”

The 26-year-old southpaw has a 2.39 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in his first season with the Red Sox. He leads the majors in starts (19), innings (120 1/3), and strikeouts (151).

Crochet will still go to the All-Star Game and travel with his teammates Alex Bregman (who will also not play) and Aroldis Chapman early next week. Last year, the lefty pitched a scoreless fourth inning at Globe Life Field; this year, he will watch from the dugout.

“It’s a huge honor to be there,“ Crochet said. ”I threw last year, with it being my first one. If I were to go next year, I would probably throw. But just with the way my continued growth is and my workload ceiling, I’d rather not add to it.”

Crochet felt it was important that the All-Star break be an “actual break” for him this season. He will pitch on Saturday at home against the Rays and will not start again until next Sunday for the series finale on the road versus the Cubs.

“Obviously, it was his decision,” said Alex Cora. “We respect that, and the league does too. There are a lot of people that are pitching Saturday and Sunday that are not pitching on Tuesday. He’ll pitch the last one on Saturday and be ready for the last one in Chicago.”

BREGMAN ACTIVATED

The Sox officially activated Bregman off the injured list on Friday afternoon after he missed 43 games with a right quad strain. He will play third base and bat second in the lineup for the second game of the series against the Rays.

Instead of taking a rehab assignment, Bregman will be back with his teammates for the Rays' pivotal four-game series.

“He'll play this weekend,” said Cora. “He’ll play two of the games [prior to the All-Star break], let’s put it that way.”

The Red Sox went 26-26 with Bregman and are 23-19 since he went on the injured list. His return comes in time to help his team try and win their eighth straight game. The third baseman had another day of full baseball activities on Thursday, taking batting practice and grounders.

“[Bregman] feels good,” said Cora. “We talk about the gap between Triple-A and the big leagues. Physically, he’s done everything here. So we trust the at-bat, we trust him. We’re gonna roll with it. Very similar to Masa, right? You gain five, six, or seven at-bats [with a rehab assignment]. Why not get them here?”

Cora will have Bregman start at third base versus having him serve as the DH in his return.

“My biggest concern is the defensive part of it, the nine innings out there, going into the dugout, going back and forth, the pop-up down the line, the bunts, and all that,” said Cora. “But he's checked almost every box. We’ve still got today, but he feels like he's in a great place, and we're going to trust the player.”

Prior to his injury, the Sox’ third baseman was hitting .299 with 11 homers, 17 doubles, 35 RBI, 22 walks, and 1 stolen base, and he recorded a .938 OPS in 51 games.