Jake Bennett might not be Garrett Crochet, but the 25-year-old rookie has done an admirable job this season filling in for the injured Boston Red Sox ace. In fact, the youngster looked pretty Crochet-like with a 2.64 ERA in the first half, despite relying much less on the strikeout to generate that success.
However, as we race toward October, it's time to start thinking about the postseason rotation, and we could see Bennett as the odd man out. Since August 1, the youngster has made seven starts and posted a 5.26 ERA.
The way he's performed over his last three starts has been interesting. On August 29, he twirled six scoreless innings against the New York Yankees while allowing just three hits. On September 3, he took the ball against the Baltimore Orioles and again went six deep, this time surrendering three runs. The two outings were basically the opposite ends of the spectrum of what we'd consider acceptable for a starter in the playoff rotation.
That Orioles start had a hidden concern, though. Bennett served up two homers, and it would prove prophetic for the next time he took the mound. That came on September 9 against the hapless Los Angeles Angels, who torched him for six earned runs over 5 1/3 innings. Bennett got taken deep three times in the affair and allowed eight balls to be hit over 100 miles per hour. His average exit velo for the start was a whopping 95.6 miles per hour.
At the same time, his chief competition for a spot in the playoff rotation, Ranger Suarez, might be rounding into form. The veteran struggled mightily in August after returning from the groin issue that landed him on the IL back in July, posting a 5.70 ERA for the month.
His lone start of September, though, was vintage Suarez, turning in seven shutout innings while allowing just five hits and a walk and generating a whole lot of soft contact.
If Ranger Suarez can prove he's back, he'll swipe Jake Bennett's spot in the Red Sox's playoff rotation
One start doesn't erase all the concern, but Suarez earned the second All-Star nod of his career thanks to his mostly stellar work in the first half. It's not unreasonable to assume that his string of uninspiring August performances was simply due to him knocking off the rust after being on the IL.
For Bennett, there's an added layer. With 105 innings already on his ledger in the majors and another 39 1/3 frames for the WooSox, he's well past what he's used to. In his first minor league season back in 2023, he pitched 63 frames. He missed the entire 2024 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and then came back to throw 75 1/3 innings last season.
Essentially, his 144 1/3 combined innings this year alone are greater than the 138 1/3 inning workload he's carried the last three years combined. He can say that the increased run hasn't affected him, but if the results on the field tell a different story, then that's the likely case.
There are two other factors to consider in the event of a proverbial tie. One, the Red Sox gave Suarez $130 million over the winter for a reason. Contracts shouldn't give an underperforming player a boost over a younger, cheaper option, but if all else is equal, it can help to be the deciding factor.
More importantly, Suarez is experienced in October. During his time with the Phillies, he's thrown 42 2/3 playoff innings and owns a 1.48 postseason ERA. That experience, and more importantly, excellence, matters, especially when it seems that the other option is running out of gas.
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