The Red Sox gave Garrett Crochet $170 million over six years — the largest contract ever handed to a pitcher with four-plus years of service time. Five starts in, he ranks 72nd out of 73 qualified starters in ERA. SEVENTY-SECOND.
That’s not a slump. That’s a crisis.
Per CBS Sports, the deal locks Crochet in at $24 million in 2026 alone, climbing to $28 million annually through 2030. Boston also gave up four prospects to get him from the White Sox, led by catching stud Kyle Teel. For context: Teel was the 25th-ranked prospect in all of baseball. Gone. For this.
The low point came April 13 in Minnesota. Crochet lasted 1.2 innings, gave up 11 runs, and got chased before he could record a single strikeout. Alex Cora said afterward it was “hard to watch.” That’s your manager. Watching your $24 million ace get lit up and counting the seconds until he can pull him.
And then the Twins had to twist the knife:
Took up a new hobby: Crocheting 🧶 pic.twitter.com/omkaynzzlT
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) April 14, 2026
Incredible. Getting trolled by the official account of the team that hosted the massacre.
Look, the ERA is a little lopsided. He shut out Cincinnati for six innings in his first start and put together a solid 6.1-inning outing against Milwaukee. Two of his five starts were actually fine. The problem is the other three — particularly the Twins disaster and a five-earned-run clunker vs Detroit last Saturday — are dragging his ERA into territory that would embarrass a fifth starter. His fastball is sitting around 94.5 mph on bad days, down from 97.1 two years ago. His sweeper putaway rate against righties collapsed from 30% to 19%. He’s getting behind in counts at a rate worse than league average.
After the Detroit loss, Crochet said: “I know what needs to happen. Just a matter of doing it.”
Cool. Great insight, Garrett.
This is where the David Price alarm bells start ringing for anyone who’s been a Red Sox fan for more than five minutes. Price came in on a massive deal, struggled to handle Boston, oscillated between dominant and infuriating, and became a permanent symbol of the gap between “what we paid” and “what we got.” The $170M number, the ace expectations, the early meltdowns — it’s all sitting in the same uncomfortable territory. Not saying Crochet is cooked. Saying Boston fans have seen this movie before and it does not end great.
What makes all of this worse is the rotation behind him is already on fire. Sonny Gray — the guy Boston acquired to be the steady No. 2 — went on the 15-day IL on April 21 with a hamstring strain. The team’s rotation ERA is 5.22. Connelly Early is the only guy pitching well, and he’s a swing starter. Boston went out and built an entire pitching staff around the assumption that Crochet would be Crochet. He is currently not Crochet.
“You can’t be out of the playoffs in April,” Crochet said after the Detroit loss. He’s right that it’s early. He’s also the reason they’re 8-13.
He’ll bounce back — probably. The 2025 version of him was a monster. But “he’ll bounce back” is not a rotation plan when your No. 2 is on the IL and the team ERA is pushing 5.20. The Red Sox need their $24 million man to be a $24 million man. Right now he’s eating up innings like a back-end starter and wearing it on his ERA card for everyone to see.
Tick tock, Garrett.