Garrett Crochet can set early wild-card tone as Yankees’ tormentor

The stakes were different for Garrett Crochet the last time he pitched in the postseason. 

He wasn’t Boston’s ace, a contender for the American League Cy Young award or the starter of Game 1 of a wild-card series against the Yankees.

Back in 2020 and 2021, he combined to throw just three innings out of the bullpen for the White Sox — still just a reliever, still seasons away from shifting to the rotation and establishing himself as a $170 million arm. 

But when Boston opens the playoffs Tuesday in The Bronx, the Red Sox will turn to Crochet, who has silenced the Yankees in four starts this season.

The numbers have been impressive: a 3.29 ERA and 39 strikeouts across 27 ¹/₃ innings.

Crochet’s pitching — triple-digit velocity, three different fastballs that include a sinker he threw more of in September — is “off the charts,” Yankees Game 1 starter and fellow lefty ace Max Fried said.

And if the Yankees can’t solve him for a fifth time, it could lead to the Red Sox shifting the tone of the series from its earliest innings. 

“I’m just going to try my best to treat it as another start,” Crochet said Monday. “Obviously the implications are a little bit bigger, but for me there’s no need to put any excess pressure on it. There’s already a good lineup on the other side, so that’s enough pressure as it is.” 

In his four starts against the Yankees, Crochet picked up three wins and earned a no-decision in the fourth — lasting six innings in each, striking out nine in three outings and allowing more than three runs just once.

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His most dominant outing came June 13, when he tossed eight shutout innings before Aaron Judge tied the game with a homer in the ninth.

The Yankees, along with most teams in the majors, never found a consistent answer. 

Crochet compiled a 2.59 ERA and logged a career-high 205 ¹/₃ innings in 2025, avoiding the injury woes that have plagued him in past years and becoming the latest ace for the Red Sox — joining David Price, Chris Sale, Nathan Eovaldi and others — and their rotations. 

“He was a guy that he continued the winning streak,” manager Alex Cora said, “and he stopped the losing streak.” 

But his next task will involve conquering the same postseason stage where Price and Sale struggled.

It’ll revolve around ensuring that his deception and velocity and “ability to put the ball where he wants,” as Aaron Boone said, translate beyond the regular season. 

And for the Yankees, looking to orchestrate some more October magic, toppling Crochet would make an early statement. 

“He just executes so well,” Paul Goldschmidt, 2-for-15 in his career against Crochet, said. “When he makes a mistake, you have to capitalize on it. You have to put that ball in play and not foul it off or not take it because he just doesn’t make that many.”