Garrett Crochet's Minor Change Could Be Red Sox's Ace in the Hole

FORT MYERS, Fla. — When a pitcher already paces the majors in innings and strikeouts and finishes runner-up for the Cy Young Award, the room for improvement appears microscopic. Yet the Red Sox believe Garrett Crochet uncovered exactly that this winter: a subtle grip adjustment that could turn baseball’s most neglected pitch in his arsenal into a legitimate weapon.

Crochet, 27, relied on his changeup only 4 percent of the time in 2024, shelving it entirely against left-handed hitters. The offering flashed swing-and-miss potential—posting a 42.1 percent whiff rate—but its infrequency left his overall off-speed run value in merely the 77th percentile, a relative weak spot compared with his fastball and breaking-ball grades that sat in the 95th and 99th percentiles, respectively.

During an offseason training stint at Vanderbilt, the left-hander experimented with a splitter grip and ultimately elected to replace the changeup with the new look, according to a Tuesday report by The Boston Globe’s Tim Healey. The tweak may sound minor for a pitcher already wielding four plus pitches, but within a sport decided by millimeters of break and late life, Boston’s coaching staff views the development as a potential separator.

Data from Baseball Savant illustrates a clear hole in Crochet’s induced-movement chart: while he owns offerings that dart horizontally in both directions, only his slider features significant downward action—and that pitch breaks to the glove side. A drop-heavy splitter would give hitters a fresh angle to consider, particularly right-handers who no longer could eliminate a soft pitch diving away from them.

Early indications suggest the splitter will behave less like Crochet’s sinker than the previous changeup, which averaged 29 inches of vertical drop and 12 inches of horizontal break. If the new version adds depth while trimming lateral movement, it could mirror the off-speed profile that has helped Tigers ace Tarik Skubal capture back-to-back Cy Young Awards—the same award Crochet finished second in last fall.

Red Sox analysts will track how the pitch’s metrics evolve once Grapefruit League play begins, but the organization is optimistic that a fifth reliable option will shorten at-bats, expand Crochet’s platoon advantage, and further lighten the load on a bullpen that logged heavy innings behind him a year ago.

In a crowded American League East where marginal edges decide October fates, Boston’s hopes of unseating the division’s heavyweights may hinge on a grip adjustment few fans will ever notice. For Garrett Crochet, the smallest tweak could yield the largest payoff: a Cy Young trophy to call his own.