ARLINGTON, Texas — After allowing just one earned run and striking out 30 batters over 15 ⅔ innings in spring training, the expectations were sky-high — and borderline unrealistic — for Garrett Crochet entering his Red Sox debut Thursday. That he was just OK against the Rangers on what he deemed a “grinder day” was fine by the Red Sox in a game they won 5-2 thanks to Wilyer Abreu’s heroics.
Crochet struggled with shaky early command and threw a lot of pitches in the first couple innings before settling in to receive a no decision on Opening Day. Despite Alex Cora penciling him in for “six or seven” innings, the lefty went only five. He allowed two runs on five hits and struck out four. Crochet threw 88 pitches (61 strikes).
With former Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi dealing (9 strikeouts in 6 innings), there wasn’t much wiggle room for Crochet at a packed Globe Life Field. He took pride in the fact he was able to leave the mound with the game tied, 2-2, after five.
“It was a grinder day from the start,” Crochet said. “I felt like I struggled with consistent execution, maybe took a few too many shots in the first couple innings trying to get swing and miss. I dug myself into a hole with pitch count early. Later on in the game, I started trusting the defense and trusting everybody other than myself. I just tried filling up the zone as best as I could.”
Crochet needed 47 pitches to get the first six outs as Texas took a 1-0 lead. He worked around a two-out walk in a scoreless first, then ran into trouble in the second when he issued a leadoff walk to Jake Burger, then a long single to Josh Jung. Kevin Pillar’s RBI single plated the first run of the day.
With Pillar on base again in a tie game in the fourth, Crochet served up a high sinker that Kyle Higashioka crushed for a 105.2 mph, 414-foot double. The lefty described that as the pitch he’d want back the most after the game.
Crochet dominated with a fastball that reached 101 mph on some hopped-up radar guns in Fort Myers. On Thursday, he maxed out at 97.5 mph while relying on his cutter nearly half the time (43 of 88 pitches).
“He was good,” said manager Alex Cora. “A lot of cutters. Velo was OK. I think he found his fastball halfway through the outing. Of course, he wanted to keep going. We’re in the business of taking care of him. We have to do that. He did a good job.”
Heading into his next outing Tuesday in Baltimore, Crochet — who issued just 33 walks in 146 innings last year — hopes to limit the free passes after handing out two in the opener.
“Last year, I feel like I didn’t walk guys so I’ve been putting a little excess pressure on myself to not walk guys,” he said. “Realistically, that’s part of the game.”
“The first two innings really taxed my pitch count so I’m going to walk away from today priding myself on the fact I was able to be a lot more efficient there later in the outing,” he said.
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