How Red Sox Ace Garrett Crochet Joined Elite Group With Chris Sale

With each passing day, the Boston Red Sox's trade for Garrett Crochet seemingly looks better and better.

After missing out on Juan Soto and Max Fried, the Red Sox acquired Crochet from the Chicago White Sox for four prospects and eventually inked him to a long-term contract extension tying him to Boston for years to come. Clearly, that was the right move. Crochet's 2025 regular season is over. He made 32 starts for Boston and finished with a 2.59 ERA, 255-to-46 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and an 18-5 record in 205 1/3 innings pitched.

The Boston Red Sox made the right call

Sep 19, 2025; Tampa, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet (35) throws a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays during the first inning at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Crochet has been phenomenal. The 26-year-old didn't just have a good regular season for Boston, but a historic one for a lefty. He joined an exclusive club of lefties to go through an entire season with over 250 strikeouts and under 50 walks, along with guys like Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale, and David Price.

Garrett Crochet's 2025 is the 6th season by a left-handed pitcher in MLB history to feature 250+ K but fewer than 50 BB.

Randy Johnson (2004)
David Price (2014)
Clayton Kershaw (2015)
Chris Sale (2015, 2017)
Garrett Crochet (2025)
— nugget chef (@jayhaykid) September 25, 2025

This isn't a complete story of the history left-handed pitchers in MLB history, but it goes to show just how good Crochet's season was for Boston. Red Sox fans got used to performances like this from Chris Sale, but campaigns like the one Crochet just had aren't commonplace.

Boston's magic number to clinch a playoff spot is down to one. The Red Sox can clinch a playoff spot as soon as on Friday. If -- and when -- the Red Sox do officially clinch a playoff spot, it will be for the first time since 2021. The Red Sox had back-to-back last place finishes in 2022 and 2023. Last year, the Red Sox were a .500 baseball team. Boston's front office said publicly that it would be more aggressive and the addition of Crochet and eventual extension were examples of this.

Clearly, the front office got it right. Before the season, the Red Sox brought guys like Crochet, Aroldis Chapman, and Alex Bregman to town and all three were All-Stars this year and played a key role in Boston getting to the place it is in right now. Red Sox fans are certainly going to enjoy watching Crochet over the next few years.

More MLB: Red Sox $21 Million Investment Is Thriving — With Phillies