Top Boston Red Sox pitching prospect Jake Bennett has officially been promoted to make his major league start against the Houston Astros. He'll start in Garrett Crochet's stead after he was recently placed on the 15-day injured list with a shoulder issue.
What should Sox fans expect from Bennett? How did he get here? What will he be throwing on the mound? We'll try to answer some questions you might have.
Let’s start with how Bennett got to this spot. The left-handed pitcher was drafted out of Oklahoma in the second round back in 2022 by the Washington Nationals. Bennett was traded to the Red Sox in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Luis Perales during the offseason.Â
Bennett threw 63 innings in 2023, missed all of 2024, and threw 75 1/3 innings in 2025, getting up to Double-A in the process.
Jake Bennett's command has turned heads before his Red Sox, MLB debut against Astros
Bennett is not known for throwing gas, but he was hitting 97 MPH during the Spring Breakout game. However, he hasn’t been able to replicate that during the regular season. The lefty is sitting around 93 MPH for the most part. Bennett’s velocity may not be electric, but he utilizes fantastic command to put up good numbers.
The 25-year-old has made five starts in 2026. He has a 0.86 ERA, .162 BAA, and 0.71 WHIP in that time. Meanwhile, he has 16 strikeouts compared to just three walks in 21 innings.
Sure, the strikeout numbers aren’t going to excite you. However, Bennett’s barely letting anyone on base. He’s only allowed three walks, 12 hits and he's hit two batters. Of those 12 hits, only one has gone for extra bases (double). We’re seeing consistent, aggressively weak contact being made off the lefty.
Bennett throws a fastball 25.3% of the time, a cutter 13.8%, a sinker 26.4%, a slider 0.4%, a curveball 13.4%, and a changeup 20.8%. He's racked up a 38.20 whiff rate on his changeup.
Bennett has yet to throw more than 71 pitches in a game this season. Therefore, don’t expect to see him pushed past much more than 80 in his big league debut. Barring total domination from Bennett, I can’t imagine Chad Tracy wanting to go past that 71 pitch mark.
Speaking of Tracy, Bennett is familiar with Boston’s interim manager, as he was the Worcester manager before the Alex Cora firing. That familiarity should help Bennett feel comfortable in the clubhouse pretty quickly.
Will that comfort help him on the mound, though? The Red Sox would certainly love that. Realistically, fans shouldn’t expect to be blown away by big numbers on the radar guns and plenty of strikeouts. That’s not how Jake Bennett wins games. Not many fans will object to trading some of the flashiness in for five-plus innings of weak contact and strikes being thrown, though.
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