Garrett Crochet makes his first Red Sox start and impresses Alex Bregman

The Boston Red Sox made a huge move in the offseason when they acquired left-handed starter Garrett Crochet from the Chicago White Sox in a trade for four minor league prospects. Crochet dominated last year for the woeful Chicago South Side team and the Red Sox recognized that he had the kind of stuff to become a dominant pitcher in the American League. He made his debut for the Red Sox in Sunday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays and opened eyes with his performance.

Crochet pitched 1.2 innings and threw 27 pitches. He went into the game with a pitch limit of 30 pitches and he allowed three hits and one walk, but he struck out four batters.

The game also marked the Red Sox debut of infielder Alex Bregman. The former Astro had an impressive day himself with three hits and his first home run in a Boston uniform. He was quite impressed with what he saw from Crochet during his mound appearance.

“He looked great,” Bregman said of Crochet, per Ian Browne of MLB.com. “Punched out the side in the first. His stuff is electric. Just in facing him over the past few years, he’s been fun to watch and difficult to face. Glad I’m on his team.”

Red Sox are betting that Crochet, Bregman will take on key roles in 2025

The Red Sox are coming off back-to-back seasons in which they played well in the first half of the season and faded in the second half. While they were better in 2024 than they were in 2023 and finished with an 81-81 record, they were not legitimate playoff contenders.

The New York Yankees and Baltimore Orioles were both playoff teams in the American League East, but the moves the Red Sox made in the offseason should give them a better chance of battling both of those opponents for division superiority.

In addition to Bregman and Crochet, regulars Triston Casas, Trevor Story and Ceddanne Rafaela were also in the lineup for manager Alex Cora’s Red Sox. Bregman believes there is quite a bit of excitement among his new teammates.

“I think a lot of guys are super pumped to get underway,” Bregman said. “We’re all extremely excited about this season. We know we’ve got a lot of work to do, and we have a lot of preparation here in Florida before heading into the season, but it just felt nice. And I think everybody had a smile on their face today when they got here, because they knew they were in the lineup.”