Garrett Crochet's Minor Change Could Be Red Sox's Ace in the Hole

No sane Boston Red Sox fan had any complaints with Garrett Crochet's performance last year, but that doesn't mean the ace can't get any better.

In his age-26 season, Crochet led the majors in innings pitched and strikeouts while finishing second behind Tarik Skubal in the Cy Young race. He was everything Boston could have asked for and more... but there was one pitch in his arsenal that wasn't particularly useful.

Crochet threw his changeup only 4% of the time last season, and never against lefties. The pitch generated a 42.1% whiff rate, but the lack of utilization contributed to his offspeed run value only sitting in the 77th percentile, compared to the 95th and 99th in fastballs and breaking balls.

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Crochet reportedly switching to splitter

Aug 23, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet (35) pitches against the New York Yankees during the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images

On Tuesday, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reported that Crochet learned a new splitter grip while training at Vanderbilt this offseason and would be switching over his changeup to that new offering.

A new, minor twist for Garrett Crochet this season: His changeup (which he threw just 4% of the time last year) is now more of a splitter, thanks to a new grip he learned at Vanderbilt over the offseason.
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) February 10, 2026

That might sound like a minor change, especially because it had to do with the fifth pitch in Crochet's arsenal. But in a game of inches, any competitive advantage can make a massive difference.

Crochet's induced movement profile on Baseball Savant shows a noteworthy gap in the lower left quadrant. In other words, he's got pitches with notable horizontal break in both directions, but the only pitch he has with significant drop (his slider) breaks to the glove side.

We can safely assume that Crochet's new splitter will behave less like his sinker than the old changeup did, which was likely a big reason why the Red Sox didn't have him deploy it all that often. And because it was a relatively soft offering that broke in on lefties, the Red Sox had him use it exactly zero times all season.

When we have data on the splitter, we'll need to monitor how much more drop and how much less horizontal break it has compared to the old changeup, which averaged 29 inches of drop and 12 inches of break, per Savant.

If the change is significant, Crochet will have a pitch in his arsenal that behaves similarly to Skubal's signature offspeed, and perhaps he'll challenge the two-time reigning winner for a Cy Young as a result.

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