Garrett Crochet's 'Unacceptable' Start Came With Red Flags for Red Sox

The ace didn't look like one at all...

Apr 1, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet (35) delivers a pitch against the Houston Astros during the first inning at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

Handing the ball to Garrett Crochet was supposed to help save the series for the Boston Red Sox. Instead, it deepened their woes.

Crochet gave up two runs in the bottom of the first inning to the Houston Astros on a lot of loud contact. He leveled out a bit and was one strike away from getting out of the fifth inning in a 2-2 tie before Carlos Correa jumped all over a sweeper that stayed too high above the knees and put the series on ice with a three-run homer.

The Red Sox dropped to 1-5, tying them with only the Athletics and Chicago White Sox for the worst record in Major League Baseball. Crochet was beside himself with his efforts, and there was more to worry about than just a bad pitch or two.

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Crochet's "embarrasing" start included diminished stuff

Boston Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet (35) throws a pitch in the second inning of the MLB Opening Day game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Boston Red Sox at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati on Thursday, March 26, 2026. The game was tied at 0 after four innings. | Sam Greene/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

"It's embarrassing, you know?" Crochet said, per NESN. "And typically, in the past, I played that stopper role, and today I just let the guys down, especially when we scratched one early in the first, and then for me to give it right back, and then ultimately get them the lead at the bottom of the first. It's unacceptable."

"It's a game of adjustments and I felt like there at the end he was just one step ahead."

Garrett Crochet on his Red Sox start today

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"We're about to go home and I expect us to have a better response once we get there, especially with an off day to really sit on this, sit on these tough times. But you know, today I felt like we made the adjustment. Ultimately, it was me that kind of screwed the game up for us."

Crochet's disappointment with the way he competed was one thing, but his diminished stuff, even if it's only been two starts, is another issue to watch.

Crochet's four-seam fastball on Wednesday was a full mile per hour slower than last year's average (95.3 mph vs. 96.4), and he lost a full inch of induced vertical break (15 in. vs. 16) at a nearly identical spin rate.

While the sample size isn't yet large enough to hit the panic button, Crochet's stuff wasn't sharp in spring training either, and the fact that he led the American League in innings last season could be the start of an explanation.