The Red Sox used their bullpen for 11 innings over Monday and Tuesday to secure two victories against the Mets.
That ace lefthander Garrett Crochet was lined up to pitch on Wednesday night in the series finale appeared to be perfect timing.
Except that the team’s medical and sports sciences staff had determined this was a game where Crochet should have a shorter outing, not a longer one.
“It was one of those days that we circled,” manager Alex Cora said.
So when Crochet threw his 85th pitch to strike out Juan Soto leading off the sixth inning, Cora popped out of the dugout to take the ball from Crochet.
The Mets went on to a 5-1 victory as Liam Hendriks allowed three runs in the seventh inning.
It’s nothing new. Crochet has a 1.98 earned run average through 11 starts but the Sox have won only six of those games.
In one sense, the Sox are leaning on Crochet as he leads the majors with 68⅓ innings. But he also has three starts with fewer than 90 pitches.
“It’s for the benefit of the player,” Cora said. “We’re here for the long run and we need that guy to make his starts and for us to go to where we feel we can go. We need him.”
Crochet was a relief pitcher for the White Sox from 2020-23, throwing a total of 73 innings. He became a starter last season and threw 146, but only 44⅔ after July 1 as Chicago protected its most valuable trade chip from injury then dealt him to the Red Sox.
Crochet fires 98 up for strikeout No. 3 ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/Ns79YQHb9Y
— NESN (@NESN) May 21, 2025
The Red Sox have Crochet on a pace that would give him roughly 200 innings, a marker only four pitchers reached last season and five hit in 2023.
It may not feel like it at times, but the Red Sox are pushing Crochet. Just not too hard.
“I have a lot of love and respect and trust in the front office and the coaching staff here,” Crochet said. “If that’s their call, I’m going to respect that.”
Crochet agreed to a six-year, $170 million contract extension the first week of the season. Getting the most out of that deal means games like Wednesday are necessary.
“You’ve got to put the player first,” Cora said.
Crochet did his part on Wednesday. He worked around a leadoff double by Francisco Lindor in the first inning. He put runners on first and third to start the second inning and escaped with just one run.
From there, he shut down the Mets.
“I was prepared to go seven, eight innings, 115 pitches if it if that’s what it took,” Crochet said.
There could come a pennant-race game in September when the Sox ask that from Crochet. Or, even better, a playoff game. But to get there means being careful in May.
“I’d like to think that I’m built up for that workload at this point,” Crochet said. “Obviously the focus is on being healthy in October, which I understand.
“But my focus right now is looking out for my teammates, trying to pick up slack … I want to go out there and lead the league in innings. I want to throw as many innings as possible.”
That Crochet wants to be that pitcher is important. It’s the same attitude that allowed Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Jon Lester, Chris Sale, and Nate Eovaldi to lift World Series trophies for the Sox.
But for now the Sox will pay the toll necessary to put Crochet in that position later this season, not on a cold night in May.
“We didn’t win the game, that sucks,” Cora said. “But you’ve got to stick with the plan, stick with the process. We do that [and] we’re going to be OK.”
Comment count: