Alex Cora Reveals Garrett Crochet Update, Red Sox Pitching Plan For Astros Series
After Thursday’s off day, the Boston Red Sox kick off another critical series at Fenway Park this weekend with the first-place Houston Astros coming to town.
Before Wednesday’s game against the Minnesota Twins, Red Sox manager Alex Cora revealed his pitching plan for the Astros series along with an update on Garrett Crochet.
According to Cora (via MLB.com’s Ian Browne), Crochet won’t pitch against Houston this weekend. His next regularly scheduled turn in the rotation could have been Friday, but Boston wants to give its ace some extra rest following his last outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.
Instead, Crochet will make his next start on either Monday or Tuesday next week against the Kansas City Royals. The AL Cy Young candidate leads the Major Leagues in innings this year (141 1/3) and is only 4 2/3 innings away from his career high, so it makes sense why Boston wants to give him some extra time off before the stretch run.
Cora has not decided yet who will start Friday’s series opener in Crochet’s place. He plans to start Walker Buehler on Saturday and Lucas Giolito on Sunday.
The Astros have not yet named their probable pitchers for the series. If Joe Espada keeps his rotation on schedule, it would be Colton Gordon on Friday, Framber Valdez on Saturday and Jason Alexander on Sunday.
While it’s disappointing that the Red Sox will be without their best pitcher during such an important series, Cora’s job includes keeping the big picture in mind and doing what’s best for the team in the long run. He needs Crochet to be healthy and effective in September and October, which means not overusing him in July.
To his credit, the All-Star lefty has shown no signs of slowing down. He’s won his last five starts and has a 1.73 ERA in July.