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Red Sox’ Garrett Crochet on what happened in disastrous start — and how he plans to get on track
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- Red Sox’ Garrett Crochet on what happened in disastrous start — and how he plans to get on track
BOSTON — Four days after the worst outing of his career, Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet took stock Friday . He’s not injured or dealing with anything that’s limiting him physically. And instead of tipping pitches against the Twins, he’s tipping his hat to a sound Minnesota approach.
“What I think happened is that they scouted the same way that I do and looked at what pitches they don’t slug against, as far as from a fastball standpoint: is it the sinker, the four-seamer or the cutter? Then they were ready for that pitch,” Crochet explained. “It happened so fast that I was never able to even realize, ‘Hey, maybe this is what they’re doing here.’ It was on so many different pitch types, too.”
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On Monday at Target Field, Crochet was tagged for 11 runs (10 earned) on nine hits while walking three batters and hitting another in just 1 ⅔ innings. When he left the game — after a three-run Josh Bell double, two-run Victor Caratini homer and first-pitch Ryan Kreidler blast — the Red Sox trailed 11-0. The shocking result raised plenty of red flags around the 26-year-old, who finished second in American League Cy Young voting a year ago. And it left him with a staggering 7.58 ERA through his first four starts of 2026.
Since walking off the mound at Target Field, Crochet has been able to rule out some theories for his struggles. A review of the video did not suggest he was tipping his pitches. Instead, it suggested Crochet was becoming too predictable with his arsenal. Most importantly, Crochet says he’s healthy despite the velocity of his four-seam fastball dropping an average of 1.2 mph (from his 96.1 mph average to 94.9) and having less spin than usual on every offering . No physical issues have popped up since Monday.
“I know the fastball velo was down but that’s not something I was concerned about,” Crochet said. “I threw 107 (pitches) in 30 degrees the start prior, so to me, that’s a natural ebb and flow at this time of year.
“I continued to back myself into a corner with the cutter. I tried to get out of it with the cutter and it puts you in a tough spot when you do get into the jam and now people are beyond the shadow of a doubt knowing what pitch they’re getting. I’ve just gotta be less predictable.”
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Late Monday, Crochet said he was ready to “flush” his outing and move on, with an eye on Sunday’s start at home against Detroit . That has largely been his approach over the last few days, but a level of guilt crept in when Crochet saw the Twins hit Sonny Gray around in a poor, four-inning start Tuesday .
“That’s a pretty big momentum swing and what I feel like sucks is that it allows the other team to build momentum heading into the next day,” Crochet said. “Sonny would punch me in the face if he heard me say this — but I even blame myself for his start going the way it did because it allowed the other team to gain so much confidence.
“I’ve tried to move on as best I could, but at the same time, I’ve got a lot of ground to make up to be the person I want to be in this clubhouse after a start like that. That definitely tarnishes the way I view myself and, I would imagine, the way my teammates view me moving forward, not that anyone has led me to believe that. That’s just the nature of the game. I have to earn everybody’s respect back and I’m determined to do that.”
In a 2025 season that he dominated from wire to wire, Crochet never saw his ERA creep above 2.69 after his second start of the year. His start to 2026 — which also included a rough outing in Houston on April 1 — is much different, but not uncharted territory for a pitcher who had a 6.37 ERA through his first six starts of 2024 before becoming the ace of the White Sox staff with a dominant 26-game run to end the season.
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“Sadly, I’ve been here before,” Crochet said. “In ‘24, I ended April with a (7 ERA). It’s April 16 today, so I’m still a long ways off from ending with that number. Right now, my only concern is making sure it doesn’t go (expletive) higher. I’ve got to do better. I have to have the team in a position to win.”
In Crochet’s mind, the outing was karmic, in a way.
“I’m just trying to move on. It’s tough to look at as ‘just one of those days...’ I feel like I was letting myself off the hook a little bit. The Brewers outing is one I would have been furious about last year but following the Houston one, I was like, ‘Yes, that was good enough.’ I don’t want to settle for good enough. I think this is the game’s way of reminding me to not be satisfied.”
The lefty knows plenty of eyeballs will be on him when he toes the rubber at Fenway on Sunday. In his mind, though, Crochet is not trying to make that outing any bigger than it should be.
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“Trying to look at it like I would any start. It’s tough to say following the last one, but that’s the only way to separate,” he said. “Right now, I’m trying my best to just pretend we got rained out.”
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