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Why Red Sox’ Garrett Crochet said he’s ‘going to not probably sleep that well tonight’
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- Why Red Sox’ Garrett Crochet said he’s ‘going to not probably sleep that well tonight’
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet led all major league pitchers with 255 strikeouts in 2025.
But the 26-year-old lefty didn’t punch out any Tampa Bay Rays hitters over two scoreless innings in his 2026 spring training debut Thursday at JetBlue Park.
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“I don’t know the last time I had an outing without a strikeout,” Crochet said. “It’s probably been four or five years. So I’m going to not probably sleep that well tonight.”
It marked Crochet’s first true appearance without a strikeout since a relief outing for the White Sox against the Diamondbacks on Sept. 27, 2023. It was his first time without a strikeout in a spring training game since March 26, 2021 against the Brewers .
He technically had a regular-season start without a strikeout Aug. 27, 2024 against Texas . But he didn’t record a single out and threw just four pitches before a 1-hour, 29-minute rain delay. He didn’t return when the game resumed.
Crochet allowed one hit and one walk against the Rays. He recorded outs on four groundballs, including a double play, and one popup.
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“All’s well that ends well. Good outing, feel good,” Crochet said. “That’s really the main thing.”
He called swing and miss “the sexy thing,” but he wasn’t focused on the sexy thing in this one.
“Right now it’s all about timing, tempo and competing,” Crochet said. “Just trying to treat it as game-like as I can and just go ahead and get in that mind space of collecting outs efficiently however those come. Obviously the four-pitch walk sucked. Kind of fell out of my rhythm there. I was able to get it back and had a pretty efficient second.”
Crochet added a splitter this offseason. He threw one Thursday.
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“I feel like right now it’s throwing it at game speed with fastball intensity and maintaining arm speed, maintaining hand speed. ... When I’m adding a new pitch, it tends to be a little bit robotic,” he said. “Kind of just like point A to point B. And I felt like I was able to stay fluid with my arm. So, yeah, it’s a net positive.”
Can it become a prominent pitch?
“It depends. The hitter’s going to tell you everything you need to know and whether I’m able to be competitive around the zone with it,” Crochet said. “For me, it’s a lot like the sweeper. Like I’m just trying to win below the zone. That’s, in my mind, executed. So with that being said, I ... guess that the one today wasn’t executed. But it felt good out my hand. Like I said, right now it’s very entry level. .... It’s not a pitch that I want to throw when I’m behind in the count by any means. It’s not going to be something that I feel like I fully rely on. But when I’m facing fairly right-handed heavy lineups, I think it’s a good weapon for me.”
Crochet’s dominant 2025 season included leading the league in innings (205 ⅓ innings), strikeouts (255), strikeouts per nine innings (11.2) and batters faced (814).
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He finished second for the AL Cy Young behind Detroit ’s Tarik Skubal , establishing himself as one of the game’s top pitchers.
“I feel like after last year, I kind of put myself in that conversation,” Crochet said. “But the two guys that I feel like are ahead of me obviously have the hardware. It’s not like I’m looking to dethrone those guys, because at the end of the day, it’s a team game. But I feel like already when I step on the mound, there’s a little bit of extra game planning going on for me, so I’m not really too worried about that.”
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