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Red Sox's Garrett Crochet: Next spring start coming Monday
Rotowire
Crochet is slated to start a minor-league game Monday after having his scheduled Grapefruit League start Sunday against the Twins pushed back, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.
With five scheduled off days over the first month, the Red Sox plan to have Crochet pitch on a six-day schedule early in the season to manage his workload, per McCaffrey. Crochet said he prefers pitching every fifth day, but he's trying to be adaptable. In three spring starts, Crochet has allowed six runs in 8.2 innings with five strikeouts and a walk, but he didn't express much concern about his lackluster results. Crochet said that his velocity has been "a little down" from where he anticipated, but noted that he's more concerned about "pounding in the strike zone" at this stage of the spring. McCaffrey adds that Crochet is lined up for one final Grapefruit League start Saturday, although that would fall on four days' rest after Monday's spring game.
Red Sox's Garrett Crochet: Finds positives in third outing
Rotowire
Crochet allowed three runs on five hits while striking out two over 4.2 innings in Monday's spring start against the Phillies. He also hit a batter.
Crochet's third Grapefruit League start didn't yield pretty results, but the left-hander was pleased overall with his execution, per Sean McAdam of MassLive.com. His velocity was down, but Crochet explained that was more a function of building arm strength and tinkering with mechanics. Philadelphia touched him for two runs in the second inning, which were aided by a couple of softly hit, well-placed singles. A third run was charged to him when a runner stole home after Crochet departed the game. Pitching into the fifth inning and hitting 59 pitches (42 strikes) leaves Crochet on schedule for Opening Day against the Reds on March 26.
Crochet allowed one hit and one walk over two scoreless innings in Thursday's spring start against the Rays.
Crochet made his Grapefruit League debut, throwing 23 pitches (14 strikes) in his first step on the way to an Opening Day start. Other than a lack of strikeouts, it was an unremarkable outing for the left-hander, who led the majors in 2025 with 255 punchouts. He used most of his repertoire, including a splitter he'd like to use more of in 2026.
Manager Alex Cora announced Tuesday that Crochet will start Opening Day against the Reds on March 26, Sean McAdam of MassLive.com reports.
It's hardly a surprise the left-hander will be taking the mound first for Boston, and Cora wasted no time making it official. Crochet entrenched himself as one of the best pitchers in baseball last year, posting a 2.59 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 255:46 K:BB across 205.1 innings during the regular season.
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