Rocky Top (Starter): How Red Sox’s Garrett Crochet Flashed Future At Tennessee

Garrett Crochet joins the Boston Red Sox after a blockbuster trade with the Chicago White Sox.

Crochet showed in 2024 just how effective he can be and can grow into one of the league’s better starting pitchers. With that said, the new Red Sox ace showed flashes of his future long before during his collegiate career at the University of Tennessee.

Crochet arrived in Knoxville from the small town of Ocean Springs, Miss. and worked through crucial stages of his development on that campus, from everyday habits to maximizing his abilities on the mound in performance. That started his path that now leads him to the Red Sox with legitimate expectations.

In an exclusive for NESN.com, Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello reflected on the start of a tremendous baseball journey that came through Knoxville when Crochet arrived on campus.

“There was kind of a mystery about who he was in high school because he came from Ocean Springs,” Vitello recalled. “Real small town. He was only signed on at a (junior college). We just knew he had a lot of potential. He got on campus and we were really impressed with how good of a kid he is.”

Vitello and his Tennessee staff believed they found talent in Crochet, though a raw talent at that. The lefty had the natural tools. He just needed people to show him the ropes of how to be a pitcher in a professional manner.

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“He was like a baby giraffe,” Vitello said. “We knew he had hit a higher velocity, but his first bullpen for us was like 87-88 miles an hour. Kind of didn’t have any body control. He was a great kid who was willing to learn. …. His habits were just super immature. With his diet, he didn’t eat the right things. He wasn’t eating enough. He didn’t have any routines at all. Typically as pitchers, those guys are the most routine-oriented.”

As the physical traits further developed and Crochet improved his routines, one intangible characteristic stood out to Vitello unlike any other player at Tennessee.

“Very appreciative,” Vitello asserted. “That was the No. 1 thing I wanted to tell. He might be the most appreciative kid I’ve ever coached. You’ve gotta be a real good player for that to be a thing because it’s more noticeable. He’s insanely appreciative, as is his family. He was like that as a young kid.”

Crochet took the ball whenever Vitello needed him early in his collegiate career. The Volunteers had a true weapon beginning in the 2018 season and made sure to use him smartly.

“His freshman year we were not very good, but we knew he was,” Vitello said. “We had this balance of, ‘Let’s make sure when we use him, it really counts. Also, he’s a freshman. Let’s not crush him.’ Sophomore year was when he did more of both a little more consistent. He’d either start or close.”

Vitello selected a specific moment from Crochet’s freshman season that marked a turning point. A point where he knew his program had a star in the making. Crochet earned the nod for a homecoming start of sorts early in SEC play against No. 8 Ole Miss.

The lefty took the ball against Ryan Rolison, who turned into a first-round pick of the Colorado Rockies just months later. Neither starter had their best stuff, but Crochet battled to win the duel. He tossed 6 2/3 innings and 109 pitches while allowing six runs. It wasn’t pretty or tremendously effective, but Crochet did enough to get the win for the Volunteers.

His journey continued in the elite baseball conference where his pure stuff wowed those who got the chance to work with him and see him live.

“It was exactly what you wanted,” Vitello said. “For a lack of a better word, it was like ‘(expletive) you’ stuff coming out of the bullpen. I remember we brought him in against a left-handed hitter who already had two strikes. It was over before it left his hand.”

When Tennessee gave him the nod to start games, he was a “dynamic starter.” Unfortunately, those chances were limited when Crochet took a line drive to jaw as a sophomore and the COVID-19 pandemic shortened his junior year.

“It really would’ve been the only year since we’ve been at Tennessee where we had a Friday guy where it’s like, ‘This dude might stick it on you for eight innings,'” Vitello offered.

Crochet still did his job at Tennessee and clearly caught the attention of MLB franchises. The Chicago White Sox invested in him and made him the No. 11 overall selection in the 2020 MLB Draft with the shot to cash in on a physical star.

“The White Sox worked their ass off scouting the guy,” Vitello shared. “He had a video during COVID throwing a bullpen with a radar gun that said 100 MPH. Everybody thought it was a doctored tape. By that time, he had gotten real strong and gotten real good. Even then, he was still in an immature stage of development, if it’s fair to say it that way.”

The White Sox threw Crochet right into the action. The minor leagues did not play in 2020, which led the tall lefty straight to the show just months after being drafted. He took advantage with five scoreless outings as his contribution in the 60-game shortened season. He added four more scoreless appearances in his postseason time across two years with Chicago.

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Then, Crochet went on the shelf for a year with Tommy John surgery and needed to find stability in his career. The chance to be a full-time starter brought that in 2024. It paid off with his first All-Star selection and 209 strikeouts in 146 innings.

“He grew into his body,” Vitello said. “He grew into his environment. He kind of hit a real nice rhythm there.”

Vitello noted that physically, Crochet is now a “monster of a dude” at 6-foot-6 and 245 pounds. That’s worth noting that Alex Cora chose that exact word to describe the physicality of his next Red Sox pitching staff. Boston has that for the top of the rotation entering next season and the 25-year-old should only improve under the tutelage of impactful pitching coach Andrew Bailey.

“He’s a long way from being the best version of himself,” Vitello said.

Crochet will headline the Red Sox rotation along with foundational options in Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Lucas Giolito and Kutter Crawford. He’ll be viewed as the leader when he takes the mound at Fenway Park, which could weigh heavily on any 25-year-old starter. Vitello, however, believes that won’t be a problem for the new Red Sox star.

“He kind of sets his own expectations,” Vitello said. “Not in an arrogant way. He doesn’t want to let anybody down. He’s carried that weight always with him. As he’s getting older, I’m sure he’s getting better at managing that. I realize what team he’s going to play for and what market and what expectation. I think he’s self-managing and self-sufficient in that area.”

The Red Sox need a bulldog at the top of the rotation and a few more moves this winter to field a team capable of ending a three-year playoff drought. They should have that in Crochet.

“He’s going to want the ball in the most difficult situations,” Vitello said.

Crochet may not be pitching in Tennessee anymore. That doesn’t mean he won’t “volunteer” to do whatever it takes to bring the Red Sox back to the pool of baseball’s top contenders.