Garrett Crochet happy with first Red Sox spring training start as he shares goal for upcoming season
Crochet struck out four Blue Jays hitters in Sunday's game.
Garrett Crochet’s Red Sox spring training debut might not have had as many fireworks as Alex Bregman’s, but he showed some of the reasons why the team gave up a haul of prospects to land him this offseason.
The lefty allowed three hits and a walk, but also struck out four Blue Jays hitters in 1 2/3 innings of the Red Sox’ 8-7 loss on Sunday. Crochet was on a 25-to-30-pitch limit for Sunday’s game, tossing 27 pitches by the time he finished his day in the middle of the second inning.
While there were a few minor blemishes, Crochet felt good when he left the mound on Sunday.
“It was nice getting out there, getting some real game action,” Crochet said on the NESN broadcast. “A lot to work on, but some good takeaways from today.”
Crochet got to work right away in his spring training debut, striking out the first two Blue Jays hitters he faced. Blue Jays hitter Addison Barger was actually hit by a pitch Crochet threw inside in the second at-bat of the game, but it was ruled a foul ball and Barger had to leave the game. Charles McAdoo struck in Barger’s place.
After giving up a walk, Crochet closed the first inning with another strikeout. The second inning was a bit rougher on Crochet, giving up a double to open the frame. Ceddanne Rafaela threw a runner out at home later in the inning, allowing Crochet to leave Sunday’s game without surrendering a run.
As the Blue Jays made some better contact on Crochet in the second, he wasn’t too concerned with how they reacted to his pitches. Instead, he’s focused on his makeup and shared his goal for the upcoming season.
“Working on some new pitches and kind of seeing what counts they play in,” Crochet said. “But, for the most part, it’s keeping it as simple as throwing strikes, getting ahead on first-pitch strikes. That sort of thing.”
Crochet was able to do that in the majority of the hitters he went up against, though the walk he gave up was a four-pitch walk. Still, he said he felt good about where things are at in his young Red Sox career, remarking that “the transition was as smooth as I could’ve imagined.
“I look forward to putting together a much longer year in terms of workload and helping this team win games,” Crochet added, hoping to build off his strong first season as a starter with the White Sox.
Crochet was arguably the biggest addition the Red Sox made over the offseason, giving Boston the ace that it desperately needed. If Crochet wasn’t the biggest addition, then it was Alex Bregman. The two-time All-Star hitter went 3 for 3 in his debut on Sunday, hitting a home run in his second at-bat.
As Crochet was interviewed by NESN shortly after Bregman’s homer, he shared that his new teammate has already given him tips following their first live batting practice session together. But Bregman is just one of the many people helping Crochet so far, with pitching coach Andy Bailey among those guiding him to achieve his goal for 2025.
“A lot of great stuff so far,” Crochet said of his relationship with Bailey. “I’d like to keep it behind the scenes, but it’s keeping it as simple as throwing first-pitch strikes. Really, just making sure I put myself in good counts. When looking at my splits in all of my years in the major league combined, the 0-1 vs. the 1-0 is very drastic. That’s really the main thing I’m trying to capitalize right now.”
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