Red Sox’s Rookie Praises Garrett Crochet’s Leadership Of Rotation

Garrett Crochet has set a high standard atop the Boston Red Sox’s starting rotation this season.

In his first season in Boston, Crochet is gunning for the American League Cy Young Award with a 2.43 ERA and 196 strikeouts through 25 starts. Although he’s already worked a career-high 159 1/3 innings, the 26-year-old is still going strong ahead of Saturday’s scheduled turn against the New York Yankees.

Crochet has excelled while throwing to new catcher Carlos Narváez, who lauded Boston’s ace during a recent appearance at the MLB Network studio.

“He leads the way with all the pitchers,” Narváez said of Crochet. “Same as [Alex Bregman] leads the way with all the position players.”

Narváez praised Crochet’s preparation in between starts. The rest of Boston’s starting staff has followed the star southpaw’s example.

“We were talking yesterday about when he’s gonna pitch on Saturday,” Narváez said. “So he’s always ahead. He’s always thinking like three or four days (before). After he pitches, we got an off day, and then he’s thinking right away on the next outing … You see all the starting pitchers doing the same thing. It’s a pretty special group.”

The respect is mutual, as Crochet used the same word to describe his rookie catcher after Narváez hit a walk-off home run against the Yankees on June 13.

“It’s really special,” Crochet said. “He really calls games like he has been doing it for 10 years in The Show. His at-bats at the plate, late in crunchtime, he just never gives in.”

Crochet allowed one run over 8 1/3 innings in that start against the Yankees before Narváez’s extra-innings heroics. The duo will look to spark more magic when Crochet takes the mound at Yankee Stadium on Saturday.