Why Alex Cora Wants Kutter Crawford To Stay Away From ‘Buffet’ Of Pitches

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Kutter Crawford can use an array of pitches to attack opposing hitters.

But sometimes, Red Sox manager Alex Cora wishes the right-hander would just stick with his fastball. And Tuesday’s 10-4 win over the Minnesota Twins at Target Field proved why.

Crawford used his four-seam fastball in key situations and turned in a strong outing as he continues to ramp back up as a starter with Boston’s rotation hit by injuries. Crawford tossed five scoreless innings to earn the win, allowing six hits but no walks and recording five strikeouts.

“It’s good. He can do that, but he can get in trouble trying to be too cute,” Cora told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “I think the stuff plays. I think the first four pitches of the game were four-seamer, cutter, curveball and split. It’s kind like going to the buffet and eating all this stuff. Don’t get too greedy because you got all the tools. His four-seamer is a good one. It’s elite. He gets some swings and misses up there. It’s just a matter of how to use it, what you got that day and go from there.”

Crawford’s four-seamer helped him put the finishing touches on his performance with the Twins threatening with a runner in scoring position in the fifth.

With Ryan Jeffers moving to third with one out and Crawford, who threw 28 fastballs out of his 77 pitches, protecting a 2-0 lead, he pumped in heaters to Twins leadoff hitter Edouard Julien to strike him out. And with a more dangerous hitter in Carlos Correa up next in the batter’s box, Crawford threw nearly all fastballs and tossed a 95 mph pitch by Correa to strike him out and end the inning.

“I had to dig deep a little bit,” Crawford told reporters, as seen on NESN postgame coverage. “I knew it was probably going to be my last inning. Just kind left it all out there on the mound that final inning and put everything I had into those fastballs.”

It was Crawford’s longest outing since going 6 1/3 innings in relief on April 17 against the Los Angeles Angels. The 27-year-old is getting stretched out again as it was Crawford’s fourth start since returning to the rotation with Chris Sale going on the injured list.

And with Tanner Houck now needing surgery for the facial fracture he suffered and no timeline for his return, the Red Sox are going to rely more on Crawford as a starter going forward.

“I’m confident in my ability,” Crawford said. “Just got to get back into the groove of things. I did for a good stretch last year. That helped build the confidence. So, it’s just get back to that, getting back to using my mix like I should as a starter and just attacking the zone. But yeah, I’m confident in my ability to be a starting pitcher every five days.”