SEATTLE — Kutter Crawford used his sweeper and cutter early in the game Saturday, then went to his dominant four-seam fastball as his out-pitch in the later innings.
Crawford was excellent in the Red Sox’ 4-3 10-inning loss to the Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
The 27-year-old righty pitched 6 innings and allowed just one unearned run, three hits and one walk while striking out seven. One of the three hits Crawford allowed came on a bunt.
Through three games, Red Sox starting pitchers have allowed just three earned runs, one walk and 11 hits while striking out 19 in 17 innings. But Boston dropped to 1-2 Saturday when closer Kenley Jansen (tight back) was unavailable in the 10th and Joely Rodriguez blew a save opportunity and took the loss.
“They hit the fastball pretty well,” Crawford said. “So we knew kind of spin it early (with breaking balls) and then I kind of started pitching backwards. I started using the four-seamer a little bit more and it worked out.”
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Mariners hitters went 0-for-6 against his four-seam fastball, all from the third inning on. He continues to throw one of the best fastballs in the game. Opponents batted just .164 with a .177 expected batting average against it in 2023.
“There’s a lot of deception in it with the arm slot,” Tanner Houck said about Crawford’s fastball. “He’s got a little bit of a shorter arm path. He really gets the ball out and up. He kind of sits it by his ear for a second. I don’t know exactly but I think it just surprises people because it gets on you quick. Even when the velo is down, it gets good carry; it gets through the zone quick. I think just having a little bit shorter arm stroke and it just kind of gets on people quicker than what they think.”
Crawford used six different pitches Saturday. He threw 30 sweepers, 24 cutters, 20 four-seam fastballs, six knuckle-curves, two splitters and two sliders, per Baseball Savant. He recorded 10 swings and misses, including five with his sweeper. His four-seamer averaged 93.3 mph and topped out at 94.4 mph.
The 2017 16th round draft pick is establishing himself as one of Boston’s top pitchers. It began last year. Houck, a 2017 first-rounder, said it has to do in part because of hard work.
“I think this game is great in a sense that it doesn’t matter how big you are,” Houck said. “It doesn’t matter how strong you are. It doesn’t matter how fast you are. If you go out there and you can compete and you can get the job done, there’s a role for you on any team. It doesn’t matter what round you’re picked in. It doesn’t matter if you’re a high school kid, college kid, (amateur) free agent signing. You can make an impact as long as you go out there and work your tail off each and every year, each and every day. You put in the time and put in the effort, it pays off. And I think you see that (with Crawford). That’s just with life. That’s not just talking about baseball. That’s just life in general. If you do that, it sets a great precedent.”
