FORT MYERS, Fla. – Dating back to the Terry Francona years, the Red Sox were always notoriously coy about naming an Opening Day starter, even if the choice was as obvious as Pedro Martinez, Curt Schilling, Jon Lester or Chris Sale.
But in the most casual way possible, and on the first official day of his pitchers and catchers workouts, Red Sox manager Alex Cora ended all suspense – even if there really wasn’t any – by mentioning that Garrett Crochet will take the ball for him on Opening Day in Cincinnati on March 26.
“He'll start in Cincinnati for game one. … Let's get that [stuff] over with,” said Cora.
Moments later, Crochet came over for his scheduled press conference. As Crochet got ready to answer his first question, Cora yelled at his ace from about 50 feet away that Opening Day will be his.
“Thank you!” Crochet said to Cora.
The manager doffed his cap and said, “You’re welcome.”
At this time a year ago, Crochet was still getting indoctrinated to life with the Red Sox and was about a month away from foregoing his first chance at free agency by agreeing to a six-year, $170-million contract with Boston.
In their first year together, the union between the Red Sox and Crochet went about as perfect as you could imagine.
Crochet went 18-5 with a 2.59 ERA and 255 strikeouts. And the final start of his season – the only one he would make in the postseason – was a masterpiece (7 2/3 innings, four hits, one run, no walks, 11 strikeouts) as Boston beat the Yankees, 3-1, in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series.
In Year Two, it is more of an afterthought than a necessary announcement that Crochet is opening the season for the Red Sox. Of course he is. Tuesday, in front of an audience, Cora decided to make the news official.
“He had joked about it and jabbed about it in the past, but I’m still trying to work like I'm [trying to make] the team,” said Crochet. “To start for this team on Opening Day again is a pretty cool feeling.”
This is Crochet’s third career Opening Day nod and second for Boston.
While Crochet is still the centerpiece of the pitching staff for the Red Sox, he is now the front man of what should be a loaded rotation. In the offseason, chief baseball officer Craig Breslow added respected veterans Sonny Gray and Ranger Suárez and an up-and-coming righty the club is very high on in Johan Oviedo. And that’s without mentioning Brayan Bello, the team’s Opening Day starter two years ago. Or top lefty prospects Payton Tolle and Connelly Early.
“Sonny brings a ton of experience and a ton of strikeouts and innings over the past couple years,” Crochet said. “Obviously we've seen what Ranger has done in the NL and in one of the better divisions in baseball, and also in one of the more hostile environments in baseball. So I think that we're excited to see him meet the challenge in Boston.
“And Oviedo has got an incredible profile, just watching him throw bullpens and stuff like that, you see the pitch shapes and the arsenal as a whole. And there's a lot to like there. And with the young guys as well, Early and Tolle gained a lot of experience last year. Not to say that those guys will be relied upon solely [as depth options]. But I think that if we found ourselves in a position where those guys are throwing impactful innings, I think that we're in a really good spot.”
As long as Crochet is the ace, the Red Sox as a whole should also be in a really good spot.