Why Andrew Bailey Can Bring New Red Sox Ace To Higher Level

Garrett Crochet is the frontline starter the Boston Red Sox had to have for the 2025 season.

Boston sent four prospects to the Chicago White Sox to bring the 25-year-old in. The Red Sox had solid success the last time they traded with the White Sox and hope for another happy ending with Crochet.

The lefty showed just how special he could be in 2024 in his first season as a full-time starter. Crochet struck out nearly 13 batters per nine innings across 32 starts in an All-Star campaign for Chicago. That momentum should only grow in a hands-on pitching operation in Boston.

Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow opened a new era in Boston last winter with a mission to start developing pitching from the ground up, both through a minor league pipeline and effective coaching at the big-league level to get the best out of Red Sox arms.

Breslow had his own expertise after spending time overseeing the pitching program for the Chicago Cubs. He brought in Justin Willard as Boston’s director of pitching and had the home run hire of Andrew Bailey, his fellow 2013 World Series champion, as the club’s pitching coach.

His impact was on display all year long for the Red Sox. He got the most out of Tanner Houck to make the right-hander an All-Star. Boston’s philosophies centered around getting swings-and-misses in the strike zone and increasing breaking ball usage. The staff added more fastballs back in the mix when the league made adjustments, and while the arms faltered in the second half, the vision became clear for the Red Sox.

Crochet’s foundation centers around an explosive fastball that jumps on hitters with elite extension from his 6-foot-6, 245-pound frame. He added a cutter last season that became his go-to putaway pitch. He also features a sweeper and a changeup that have room for improvement.

That could be a match made in heaven for the Red Sox with Bailey’s involvement in Crochet’s growth.

Tennessee head coach Tony Vitello got the first true look at Crochet’s unique arsenal during his time with the Volunteers in the SEC. Vitello knows just how much Crochet can grow with proper guidance from the Red Sox.

“We’ve had a few guys leave, and you’re almost like, ‘Man, that kid’s too impressionable,'” Vitello told NESN.com. “To a point where he’s almost too coachable, which is what you want. I don’t think he gets to a point where he’s too much of a people-pleaser or trying to serve too many people at once. I think the fact that he’s going to get that kind of coaching is going to elevate him.”

Crochet knows how to get hitters out and miss bats with his fastball and cutter. Vitello knows there’s more room to grow with the enhancement of his secondary options.

“Here’s a kid in high school who barely knew what he can do,” Vitello explained. “With us, the off-speed stuff was in the developmental stage. He’s never been a kid that had a great changeup and had to rely on it. Some of these guys, we recruit them out of high school and they’re spinning 50% breaking balls already.”

Vitello compared Crochet’s progression to multi-time Cy Young award winner Roger Clemens in the sense of starting with a special fastball and then learning to pitch with a developed complimentary arsenal of off-speed options to get hitters out.

“You start learning how to manipulate that baseball a little bit,” Vitello said. “He’s got the right people around him. He’s also got a lack of experience in a good way in the early stages of development with (improving his arsenal).”

The Red Sox got the young ace they needed in a daring trade. They should feel confident that Crochet’s best is (likely) yet to come.