One of the biggest reasons people believed Garrett Crochet can become an ace, and one of the reasons the Boston Red Sox traded for him, was his 2024 strikeout rate.
Last season, in Crochet’s first attempt at becoming a major league starting pitcher, he struck out a ridiculous 12.9 batters per nine innings. He fell short of the innings threshold to qualify for the ERA title, but that mark was by far the highest of any pitcher who started at least 20 games in 2024.
In spring training, Crochet was striking out everyone under the sun, with 30 punchouts in 15 2/3 innings. But so far, in three regular-season starts, Crochet has struck out just 17 batters in 18 2/3 innings.
Obviously, it’s still early. Crochet hasn’t yet had his best stuff, and the fact that he’s allowed just three earned runs to this point (1.45 ERA) certainly should give the Red Sox encouragement. But some of the drop-off in strikeouts may be by design.
In a recent interview with Sean McAdam of MassLive, Crochet talked about how his mentality has changed since coming to the Red Sox, as he feels the pressure to go deep into games now that a playoff contender has made him their ace.
“I was definitely trying to be efficient,” Crochet said of his eight-inning outing against the Baltimore Orioles. “Last year, I obviously struck out a ton of guys. But I didn’t really know how many pitches they were going to let me go. So my goal wasn’t to be efficient. Six innings was a win last year for me.
“Now, six innings is no longer a win. Six innings is sub-standard; I’m trying to go seven or eight every time I touch the mound. I take one shot for a strikeout and if I miss or it’s a foul ball, it’s like, ‘OK, so what, I’m not striking this guy out.’ Then it’s back to competing in the zone and getting the out anyway I can.”
Crochet is by far the Red Sox’s best pitcher, so the more innings he throws, the better. But the best way to keep runs off the scoreboard is by preventing opposing hitters from putting balls in play. These two goals don’t necessarily have to work in opposition.
As the weather warms up, Crochet should regain some velocity; he’s averaged just 95.6 miles per hour on his four-seam fastball this season, compared to 97.2 mph over the full 2024 season. That should help him pitch into the seventh inning consistently, but still keep his strikeout totals high.
