Red Sox’ Kutter Crawford off to historic start, but has little to show for it

Crawford's 0.42 ERA is the lowest for a Red Sox starter through four starts (min. 20.0 IP) since Roger Clemens in 1991.

Kutter Crawford has posted a 0.42 ERA through his first four starts of the year. Photo by Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff

April 15, 2024

2 minutes to read

There hasn’t been a whole lot of good news emanating out of Fenway Park over the past week.

After sparking hope of a summer’s worth of exceeded expectations thanks to a 7-3 West Coast trip to open the 2024 season, the Red Sox have dropped five out of their last seven games.

It hasn’t been particularly pretty for Alex Cora’s club, with porous defensive play, injuries, and quiet bats marring Boston’s impressive start on the road — and wasting several impressive outings from their starting rotation.

That sentiment especially rings true when it comes to righty Kutter Crawford, who currently sits at 0-0 on the season after four starts. It’s a jarring record for Crawford, considering how impressive he’s been out of the gate.

The 28-year-old righty spun another gem during Boston’s eventual 6-0 loss to the Guardians on Patriots Day, holding Cleveland to just two hits and no runs over 5.2 innings of work — walking none and striking out six.

“The big emphasis for me was to attack the zone consistently,” Crawford said of his gameplan entering Monday’s game. “Obviously try to limit the walks and I fell behind a couple of times today, but I was able to get back into the zone and force the hitters to swing. So I think that kind of made a difference.”

Crawford has built upon the promise he showcased during the 2023 season, posting a 0.33 ERA over his last five starts (dating back to last season) and not allowing a home run over his last 37.2 innings.

Crawford’s 0.42 ERA so far this season is the best for a Red Sox starting pitcher though four starts (min 20.0 innings pitched) since Roger Clemens posted a 0.28 ERA to open the 1991 season.

That’s pretty good company to be in, but Crawford now also sits alone in another statistical designation with Boston.

According to the Red Sox’ team notes, Crawford is the only pitcher in Red Sox history (excluding openers) to allow one or fewer runs and three or fewer hits in each of their first four starts of a season.

For Red Sox manager Alex Cora, the primary difference in Crawford this season lies in his ability to pitch deeper into games. He threw 92 pitches in his 5.2 innings on Monday, standing as a season-high.

“He worked hard in the offseason to maintain his stuff from pitch 75 to pitch 100 — something he didn’t do last year,” Cora said postgame. “He kind of like hit the wall around that part of the game. Now the fastball’s playing, the cutter is good, the split was OK. The pitch ability, I think he learned a lot since the end of the season from 2022. … He has good feel and he has good stuff.”

Even with his impressive play out of the gate, Crawford still has plenty to prove this season if he wants to establish himself as a proven starter at the top of a rotation. But Crawford feels as though momentum is on his side, even if his record may not necessarily reflect that.

“A lot of it is just kinda like the thoughts, right,” Crawford said of pitching deeper into games. “Having that confidence as the game goes on and your body starts getting a little more fatigued and all that — just reassuring [yourself] to just pound the zone.

“Don’t try to start nibbling around the edges, because that’s when you kind of get hurt. I just tried going out and going straight at guys like I did in the first inning and it was able to work out.”