5 things to know about new Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet
In his first season as a starter in 2024, Crochet went 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA, 1.068 WHIP, and 209 strikeouts in just 146 innings pitched.
The Red Sox have found their new ace.
Boston acquired left-handed starter Garrett Crochet from the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday afternoon, giving the team a top-of-the-rotation arm.
The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams was the first to report the news of Boston’s blockbuster deal.
The Red Sox relinquished four prospects to pry Crochet out of Chicago — giving up catcher Kyle Teel, outfielder Braden Montgomery, infielder Chase Meidroth, and right-handed pitcher Wikelman Gonzalez in the move.
It’s a sizable haul for Boston to give up, but one that now nets the Red Sox an ace-level southpaw with a very high ceiling.
Here’s five things to know about the Red Sox’s new lefty.
Crochet has the makings of an ace
Crochet does not have the same established track record as Corbin Burnes, the top free-agent pitcher left on the market. He doesn’t have the same resume that Chris Sale boasted (three 200-plus-inning seasons) when Boston traded for him in December 2016.
But there’s no overlooking Crochet’s stuff on the mound — and the promise that he presents after an impressive 2024 season.
In his first season as a full-time starter in 2024, Crochet went 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA, 1.068 WHIP, and 209 strikeouts over 146 innings pitched.
He ranked fourth in the American League in strikeouts. He would’ve finished in the top five in WHIP had he qualified with more innings pitched. Crochet allowed three earned runs or fewer in 25 of his 32 starts and only surrendered 33 walks the entire season.
The 6-foot-6 lefty has overpowering stuff on the mound, reaching triple-digits with his fastball while also limiting contact against right-handed batters with a cutter.
According to Baseball Savant, Crochet ranks in the 98th percentile of pitchers in strikeout percentage, 93rd percentile in chase percentage, and 87th percentile in walk percentage.
While several pitchers with plus stuff on the mound usually struggle with command, Crochet wasn’t hindered by those issues in 2024.
In terms of pure stuff on the hill, Crochet is one of the best in the big leagues right now.
Crochet fits in Boston’s upcoming contention window
The Red Sox came up short in the bidding for free-agent Max Fried on Tuesday — a result made even more frustrating by the fact that Boston lost out to the Yankees for the talented lefty.
But a 25-year-old starter like Crochet might be a better investment for the Red Sox than Fried, who will turn 31 in January.
Even though Boston still does have the fiscal flexibility to add another pitcher in free agency like Burnes or Jack Flaherty, dealing for Crochet gives the team a No. 1 pitcher under team control for the next couple of seasons.
Crochet is not set to hit free agency until after the 2026 season, giving Boston a cost-controlled asset who should bolster a roster set to add more young talent into the big-league roster in the coming years between Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer, and Kristian Campbell.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan noted on the “Baseball Tonight” podcast last month that teams “know that Crochet will sign an extension” if he was dealt this offseason.
The onus will now fall on the Red Sox to try to sign Crochet in the near future before his value continues to rise.
He doesn’t have an established track record as a starter
There’s no doubting Crochet’s potential and appeal as a young, cost-controlled ace.
But as we noted earlier, the 25-year-old isn’t exactly a proven commodity when it comes to his role as a frontline starter.
Crochet debuted in 2020 with the White Sox and was initially a power arm out of the bullpen, sporting a 2.82 ERA as a full-time reliever in 54 appearances in 2021.
After missing the entire 2022 season due to injury (more on that shortly), Crochet returned in 2023, making 13 relief appearances for the White Sox.
Crochet immediately put together impressive returns in 2024 after shifting roles as a starter. But be it concerns over injuries or his lack of heavy reps at the big-league level, the White Sox limited Crochet’s workload down the stretch.
Crochet pitched six innings or more 11 times over his first 18 starts of the season — going 6-6 with a 3.02 ERA and 141 strikeouts in just 101.1 innings of work before July 1.
But as Chicago’s season stretched into the dog days of the summer, the White Sox made a concerted effort to curb Crochet’s reps. He did not throw more than four innings in a start after June, with his ERA spiking to 4.84 over those final 14 appearances (just 44.2 innings).
“We’re at a point now where he’s reaching numbers that really nobody knows,” then-Chicago manager Pedro Grifol said of Crochet in June. “The only thing we can go on is our communication with him, our sports performance people, the way his body is reacting, the testing that he’s doing in the weight room.
“Right now, we’re OK. There’s going to be a time where we’re going to probably have to slow it down a little bit. That time is not right now.”
Of course, some of those lackluster results were also a result of playing on a disastrous 41-121 Chicago roster.
But the Red Sox will need to keep close tabs on Crochet to ensure that he doesn’t run out of gas when the stakes are raised in September (and possibly October).
He has dealt with injuries
Crochet’s limited reps as a starter are a direct result of two seasons largely railroaded by injury.
After his promising performance in 2021 as a reliever, Crochet missed the entire 2022 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2022. He returned to the majors in May 2023 out of the bullpen, but also spent another stint on the injured list that year due to left shoulder inflammation.
After bouncing back in 2024, Crochet was named the American League Comeback Player of the Year this past season, with Braves ace Chris Sale earning the nod in the National League.
A hard-throwing starter like Crochet will always run the risk of getting stung by the injury bug — something that Boston is familiar with after several ailments limited Sale after signing a five-year, $145 million extension in 2019.
He’s not familiar with Fenway Park
Crochet doesn’t exactly have much experience pitching at Fenway Park.
Entering the 2025 season, Crochet has only logged three total innings at the Red Sox’ ballpark, giving up eight hits and five earned runs over that stretch.
The lefty had a game to forget against Boston on Sept. 7, 2024, with the Red Sox tagging him for four earned runs in just two innings of work en route to a 7-5 win at Fenway.
But Crochet fared better against Boston earlier in the 2024 season, leading Chicago to a 7-2 win over the Red Sox on June 7 at Guaranteed Rate Field. Boston’s bats struggled to solve Crochet in that outing, with Crochet limiting the Red Sox to just three hits and one earned run while striking out 10 over six innings of work.
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