Garrett Crochet Named Red Sox's 2025 MLB Opening Day Starter After Offseason Trade
The Boston Red Sox announced Saturday that Garrett Crochet will serve as their Opening Day starting pitcher against the Texas Rangers on March 27.
Boston acquired Crochet from the Chicago White Sox in December in exchange for a package of four prospects.
Since the Red Sox begin the 2025 regular season with two road series, Crochet may not be lined up to make his home debut at Fenway Park until the four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays from April 7-10.
Crochet was the No. 11 overall pick in the 2020 MLB draft by the White Sox, and he made his big-league debut with the White Sox just three months after getting drafted.
All told, Crochet played four seasons in Chicago, missing the entire 2022 campaign due to Tommy John surgery.
Over his first three seasons of action, Crochet came out of the bullpen for all 72 of his appearances, but the White Sox transitioned him into a starting role last season, and he excelled.
In 32 starts, the 25-year-old southpaw went just 6-12 for a historically bad White Sox team, but his peripheral numbers were great, as he posted a 3.58 ERA and 1.07 WHIP, while striking out 209 batters in just 146 innings.
Crochet was named an All-Star for the first time by virtue of a first half that saw him go 6-6 with a 3.02 ERA.
During the second half, Crochet went 0-6 with a 5.12 ERA, but that was largely a product of the White Sox being cautious with his workload, as he pitched only 38.2 innings in the second half.
That deployment of Crochet kept him healthy and allowed the White Sox to trade him for a haul of prospects during the offseason.
Crochet has electric stuff and is often dominant when healthy, but he does have an injury history, and last season marked the most innings he has ever pitched in a single season with 146.
As the ace of Boston's pitching staff, the expectation is likely that he will be able to reach and exceed the 200-inning mark with regularity moving forward.
If Crochet is up to that task in 2025, it could go a long way toward getting the Red Sox back to the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
