ESPN Analyst Tease Birth Of Red Sox ‘Postseason Legend’

The 2025 Boston Red Sox can cement their place in history by leading the franchise to their fifth World Series of the 21st century.

Several players carved their place into team lore with big October runs. That includes a long line of aces who delivered under the brightest spotlight.

Can Garrett Crochet join them by pitching Boston to a championship? After dominating in his first season with the Red Sox, the 26-year-old will start Game 1 of the Wild Card Series against the New York Yankees.

ESPN’s Bradford Doolittle highlighted Crochet when making the case for fans to root for the Red Sox this postseason. The analyst argued that the starting pitcher can transform from an All-Star to an icon with an elite playoff run.

“This is your chance to possibly see baseball’s newest postseason legend born,” Doolittle wrote. “Yes, Crochet does already have some postseason history under his belt, having tossed three scoreless innings over four relief outings with six whiffs while with the White Sox. But this is a whole different Crochet, a full-blown ace who has seemingly gotten stronger as the season has advanced even though he has never carried anywhere close to this heavy of a workload. Crochet is going to be must-watch every time he takes the hill in the playoffs.”

Alden Gonzalez also chose Crochet as a player “ready for his October close-up.”

“When Crochet first appeared in October, he was a reliever for the White Sox, not the ace of this Red Sox staff and one of the five best pitchers in all of baseball,” Gonzalez wrote. “Crochet made his 32nd and final regular-season start Wednesday, throwing eight scoreless innings in Toronto to put him at 18-5 with a 2.59 ERA in his second year as a starter. His last four starts saw him allow just six runs in 27 innings. With the season winding down, Crochet only seems to be getting stronger. Next up: a Game 1 start.”

Crochet moved from the bullpen last year, and the White Sox limited his workload in the second half. That didn’t stop him from posting an MLB-leading 255 strikeouts in an American League-high 205 1/3 innings.

He delivered against the Yankees during the regular season, posting a 3.29 ERA and 39 strikeouts in four Red Sox victories. Another performance like that could help Boston take a huge step toward vanquishing its longtime rival on the road.

Crochet will oppose Max Fried when the Red Sox and Yankees open their best-of-three series on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET.