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Red Sox’ Garrett Crochet said ‘No thanks’ to the WBC and doesn’t regret it
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- Red Sox’ Garrett Crochet said ‘No thanks’ to the WBC and doesn’t regret it
FORT MYERS, Fla. — A case could be made that Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet is the best starting pitcher in the game to not be taking part in this spring's World Baseball Classic.
Paul Skenes is participating. So is Tarik Skubal , who beat out Crochet last November to capture the AL Cy Young award. But Crochet politely declined a chance to take part last year and hasn't had any second thoughts.
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"I haven't been watching, to be honest," said Crochet. "I'll watch (games) when they're on here (in the clubhouse), but I'm not really worried about it."
While across the sport, enthusiasm for the tournament has grown with some dramatic finishes and standout performances. But asked if he harbored any regrets for passing up an invitation, Crochet was resolute.
"Not really. I told (chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and manager Alex Cora) that I wasn't going to do it, so the moment that I said that, I didn't really care anymore," said Crochet.
Crochet and his wife welcomed a baby girl over the offseason, which was one of driving factors toward declining to take part. Crochet figured he'd be away from his young family enough during the regular season and didn't need to be absent any more than necessary during the spring.
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Having established a career high innings in 2025, his first with the Red Sox , he also thought it unwise to add to his workload in March.
The challenges of competing against some of the best in the world, especially so early in spring training, gave him pause. It's different facing the Philadelphia Phillies in a controlled environment, as he did Monday at jetBlue Park, than getting caught up in the intensity of international competition.
"For a pitcher, the risk is so great," he said. "For hockey and the NBA, those guys have their legs under them and they're probably fine. But I feel like as a pitcher, it's sketchy. You never know how many throws you've got left.
"I want to have a normal spring training, coming off the highest workload I've ever had. I don't want to get going too early when the plan is to pitch until November."
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Instead of preparing for a quarterfinal matchup with Mexico or another team, Crochet instead focused on the task at hand Monday — tuning up for his Opening Day start in Cincinnati on March 26.
He tossed 4.2 innings in the Red Sox' 5-3 win, and while his line was a bit unsightly — three earned runs on five hits with a hit batsman and two strikeouts — Crochet chose to look at it the outing through a positive lens. When the Phillies managed two runs in the second off him, it was with the help of soft-contact hits that happened to be well-placed.
"I feel like I like to judge my outings based on execution, not results," said Crochet. "I feel like there were times last year when I had good results and the execution was bad. Then, there's kind of going to be times where it's the opposite and I feel like today was kind of that day.
"But for me, I feel like it was a good step in the right direction — pounding the zone, throwing the cutter for strikes to get back into the count...I feel like the sum up of the day was the broken bat single that found a hole at the end (in the fifth inning). That kind of felt like it was happening all day. But for me, the execution was really good."
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His velocity was off somewhat, as many of his four-seam fastballs registered no more than 95 mph. But that, he explained, was more of a function of building up arm strength and tinkering some with his mechanics.
"There's going to be ebbs and flows — across the course of the season there will be as well — so for me right now," he said, "it's (all about ) hitting checkpoints in my delivery. I 've kind of felt like (crap) with my delivery for the past three starts. I kind of felt bad about most of them. So it's nice to have an extended outing now where I get to go out there and fix it. From a timing standpoint, I'm definitely trending in the right direction."
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