Three weeks into the season, it finally felt like things were going right for Boston Red Sox starting pitchers. After an ugly start to the campaign despite the revamped staff, Red Sox starters posted a 1.84 ERA the third time through the rotation.
That momentum came to a screeching halt on April 13 against the Minnesota Twins. The dark and stormy sky above Target Field may have been a harbinger of Garrett Crochet's outing.
Crochet only lasted 1.2 innings against Minnesota after he surrendered 10 earned runs on nine hits, including two home runs. He walked three batters, hit one, didn't strike anybody out and generated just three whiffs on 24 swings. The outing is the worst of his career, by far.
The Twins have been one of the most surprising teams in baseball this year with a 9-7 record entering their April 13 game against Boston. If that was the reason for Crochet's struggles, maybe Red Sox fans could sleep well tonight, but that won't be the case.
Crochet's velocity was down a full mile an hour or more on all his pitches Monday and his lack of command is alarming. This could be a troubling sign for Crochet and Boston — Tanner Houck and Johan Oviedo had similar downticks in their velocity before scans revealed elbow troubles. Houck, after posting an 8.04 ERA over 43.2 frames last season, underwent Tommy John surgery and Oviedo has been shut down for six weeks with a flexor injury.
Garrett Crochet exits April 13 start against Twins after allowing 10 runs over 1.2 innings, showing concerning velocity drop
Crochet also didn't look like himself in spring training. He logged a 8.53 ERA with eight strikeouts and two walks over 12.2 innings in his last three Grapefruit League starts. While spring training stats don't mean anything and he may have been just warming up, there could still be a pattern here, given that he's never struggled as he did on April 13.
There has been no reporting about a potential injury to Crochet's throwing arm, but such an injury, if it exists, would be devastating for the Red Sox. While they have plenty of pitching depth to go around with Payton Tolle in the minor leagues and Kutter Crawford and Patrick Sandoval on their way to a rehab assignment, losing their ace would put a serious damper on the Red Sox's run prevention plans.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow built this Boston team on the assumption that the rotation would dominate. Ranger Suárez and Brayan Bello struggled in each of their first two starts and Oviedo is still a wild card. Losing Crochet would be the worst possible outcome for the Red Sox this early in the season — or at any time.
Looking on the bright side, Crochet has struggled at Target Field before, and it's even possible he was tipping his pitches. While that wouldn't address the velocity drop, Red Sox fans will take any excuse to imagine Crochet will be fine and raring to go five days from now.