Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced Saturday that left-hander Garrett Crochet will be the Opening Day starter. Cora also said Tanner Houck will start Game 2 and Walker Buehler will start the third game.
Your 2025 Opening Day starter: Garrett Crochet. pic.twitter.com/kAlwfhOmeb
— Red Sox (@RedSox) March 15, 2025
“That’s going to be one through three going into the season,” Cora said at JetBlue Park. “And then we’ll decide the rest.”
After throwing 6 1/3 shutout innings in spring training, Crochet will debut against a Texas Rangers squad that finished 11th in the American League with a .685 OPS last season but has brought that number up to .790 this spring.
Last season, Crochet became the ninth player in the last 110 years to make his first career start on Opening Day. Crochet would be the fourth Opening Day starter for the Red Sox in the last four years following Brayan Bello (2024), Corey Kluber (2023) and Nathan Eovaldi (2022).
Alex Cora Names Garrett Crochet Opening Day Starter
Boston acquired Crochet from Chicago in December. The Red Sox sent Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery and two other top 15 prospects to the White Sox. Crochet posted a 3.58 ERA in 32 starts last year.
Cora decided on Crochet over Houck, who was arguably Boston’s best pitcher last season. Houck posted a 3.12 ERA in 30 starts for the Red Sox in 2024.
“Talked to Tanner. He was our best starter last year. He was an All-Star,” Cora said. “He just said, ‘Give me the ball whenever.’ But just who (Crochet) is. His stuff is big. There’s a reason we got him here and we envision him as a true No. 1. But we truly believe that where we’re at as an organization and what he represents, it will be good for him to make the first pitch of the season.”
Bello, Kutter Crawford and Lucas Giolito will begin the season on the injured list. The competition for the final two spots in the rotation will be between Richard Fitts, Quinn Priester, Cooper Criswell and non-roster invitee Sean Newcomb.
Main Photo: © Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images
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