Article: Garrett Crochet's Dominance in Game 1 Bodes Well for a Deep Playoff Run

[Alex Mayes]

Garrett Crochet was every bit of the ace on Tuesday night that the Red Sox expected him to be when they traded two top prospects for him in December. In the biggest game of his career, Crochet tossed 7 2/3 innings while allowing four hits, one earned run, zero walks, and 11 strikeouts. He out-dueled Max Fried in what could go down as one of the best pitching matchups in the 2025 postseason. What’s maybe even more impressive is that, on the final pitch of his night (pitch No. 117), Crochet fired a 100 mph four-seam fastball to send Austin Wells back to the Yankee dugout. Even though Crochet can’t start every game of the postseason, if this is the version of him that we’re going to get, then the Red Sox are probably going to be playing deep into October.

The way that Crochet shouldered the pressure of Game 1 of the Wild Card against the Yankees in Yankee Stadium should be considered a masterclass for all other starters when they enter enemy territory in the playoffs. He made one mistake pitch the entire night, a sinker that was left hanging up in the zone against Anthony Volpe. That home run was no Yankee special either; the only park the ball wasn’t a home run in was Fenway. After that, Crochet dominated. He allowed a measly .154 batting average against and a 0.52 WHIP. Out of his 117 pitches, only 39 of them were balls. What’s maybe most impressive, though, is that Crochet induced 16 swing and misses on the night. Of those 16 swing and misses, eight of them were on strikeouts. Outside of that Volpe home run, Crochet was almost untouchable Tuesday night.

As the rotation gets shortened for the playoffs, the Red Sox are going to expect Crochet to have similar performances each time he toes the rubber. There’s little reason to doubt he won’t meet those expectations. We already know that Lucas Giolito will not be pitching at all during the postseason due to a non-structural issue in his pitching elbow. That’s going to push young, unproven starters into ridiculously high leverage situations sooner than later. How those young arms perform remains to be seen.

Regardless, the team will need Garrett Crochet to be the ace they extended him to be. He is the de-facto leader of this starting rotation, even though he’s only in his first year with the team. It took the offense far too long to get going against the Yankees on Tuesday, but Crochet provided more than enough support to keep the Red Sox in that game. That dominance, the ability to reach back and throw 100 mph in the eighth inning, the way he stared down the likes of Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton when he knew they were up there trying to take him deep... that’s the ace this team needs. It’s also the confidence he can model for Brayan Bello and Connelly Early as they prepare to make their first foray into the biggest rivalry in baseball during the postseason.

On Tuesday night, Yankee fans declared that there would be a ‘pig roast’ in New York. For one pitch in the second inning, they actually believed it. Then, in typical Garrett Crochet fashion, he quieted the crowd in a way that few others could by carving through 17 straight hitters. This version of Crochet, the one that he likely would have never been in the South Side of Chicago, is the driving force behind the Red Sox and their run through this postseason. If his dominance continues, and there’s no reason to believe it shouldn’t, then he can carry this Red Sox team to the promised land.

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