To no surprise, Red Sox name Garrett Crochet their Opening Day starter
Boston also set up its rotation for the first three games of the regular season.
The Red Sox’ biggest pitching addition of the offseason will be on the mound when they begin the regular season against the Rangers on March 27.
Garrett Crochet will indeed be Boston’s Opening Day starting pitcher, Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters on Saturday. The lefty beat out Tanner Houck for the honor.
In addition to naming the Opening Day starter, Cora also penciled in the Red Sox’ starting pitchers for the majority of their four-game series against the Rangers to start the year. Houck will be on the bump for the second game of the season and Walker Buehler will be Boston’s starter for the third game of the year.
While Cora waited until Saturday to announce Crochet as the team’s Opening Day starter, the decision doesn’t come as much of a surprise. The 25-year-old was arguably the best pitcher to change teams this offseason, with Boston giving up two consensus top-100 prospects (Kyle Teel, Braden Montgomery) to get him from the Chicago White Sox following his All-Star season.
Still, Cora shared that he was deliberating between Crochet and Houck for the team’s Opening Day starter role before announcing his decision on Saturday.
“Talked to Tanner. He was our best starter last year. He was an All-Star,” Cora told reporters, via MassLive’s Sean McAdam. “He just said, ‘Give me the ball whenever.’ But just who [Crochet] is. His stuff is big. There’s a reason we got him here and we envision him as a true No. 1.”
Crochet has only been a starting pitcher for one full regular season, but he was arguably one of the best pitchers in the American League last season. He went 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA over 32 starts for the White Sox. He only pitched 146 innings as the White Sox managed his workload in the second half of the season after missing the majority of the previous two years due to Tommy John surgery.
Due to the lower number of innings pitched, Crochet didn’t qualify for many leaderboards at season’s end. His 1.068 WHIP would’ve been top-five in the American League had he thrown enough innings to qualify. However, his 209 strikeouts were the fourth-most in the American League, regardless of innings.
Houck, 28, earned his first All-Star nod and, as Cora mentioned, was the Red Sox’ best starter in 2024. He went 9-10 with a 3.12 ERA over 30 starts, recording a 1.142 WHIP and 154 strikeouts over 178 2/3 innings pitched. Houck’s ERA was the seventh-best mark in the American League while he posted a league-leading 0.554 home runs allowed per nine innings pitched.
Crochet helped solidify his edge over Houck in spring training. He’s yet to allow a run over three outings, striking out 14 hitters with a 1.74 WHIP in 6 1/3 innings pitched. Houck, meanwhile, has struggled a bit this spring. He gave up five runs in 2 2/3 innings against the Twins on Tuesday, with only 30 of his 62 pitches being strikes.
Putting the spring training numbers aside, naming Crochet the Opening Day starter just felt right to Cora.
“We truly believe that where we’re at as an organization and what he represents, it will be good for him to make the first pitch of the season,” Cora said.
Beyond Crochet, Houck, and Buehler, the rest of the Red Sox’ rotation to open the season isn’t set, largely due to injuries. Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, and Lucas Giolito will each open the season on the injured list.
As a result, righties Richard Fitts, Quinn Preister, and Cooper Criswell along with non-roster invitee left-handed pitcher Sean Newcomb are competing for the final two spots. Cora expects the winners for those two spots to be named soon.
“They’re all throwing the ball well,” Cora said. “They’re capable of going that. We’ll make a decision, probably in the upcoming days.”
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