Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet has people to prove wrong in ‘26 — but keeping them to himself for now

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Garrett Crochet’s first season in a Red Sox uniform was the stuff of dreams: American League leader in innings and strikeouts, an All-Star nod, a second-place Cy Young finish and a six-year, $170 million contract extension that locked in his future before summer. Yet as pitchers and catchers reconvene this spring, the left-hander insists the best is still to come — and he has a private list of motivations to make sure it arrives.

“I think to externalize those thoughts kind of takes away from the magic of the drive,” Crochet said, smiling but firm. “Definitely, (I have things motivating me) — always.”

While he refuses to name names or slights, Crochet is transparent about the on-field tweaks that will define his encore. “Consistency,” he said without pause. “One good year doesn’t make you a great player. Teams will game-plan more for me. I’ve got to be ready to combat that.”

The 26-year-old singled out two areas for refinement: sharpening glove-side command of his four-seam fastball and fully mastering the changeup grip he adopted mid-2025. The latter offering could prove vital as American League hitters adjust to a pitcher who fired 223 innings of 2.58 ERA baseball a year ago.

Crochet will also navigate a retooled rotation. Gone are veterans Lucas Giolito and Walker Buehler; in their place sit Sonny Gray, Ranger Suarez and Johan Oviedo, joining holdover Brayan Bello. “We’re looking at 80 percent of a new rotation,” Crochet noted. “Sonny brings a ton of experience and innings. Ranger has proven it in one of the most hostile environments in baseball. Oviedo’s pitch shapes jump off the page. There’s a lot to like.”

Financial security, once a potential distraction, is now a non-issue. By inking his extension in April 2025, Crochet avoided the speculation that would have followed his career-year into the marketplace. “Signing my name freed me up,” he said. “It took away the pressure of free agency and allowed me to focus on winning day-to-day.”

That freedom translated into durability. Crochet believes careful workload management — including a May hook against the Mets that infuriated him at the time — preserved his effectiveness for October, when he fired seven shutout innings in Game 1 of the wild-card series against the Yankees. Asked if another early pull would still sting this season, he laughed: “I’ll probably still be pissed. But that’s the nature of the game.”

For now, Crochet is content to keep his chip-on-the-shoulder list internal, letting the results speak for him when the games begin. If 2025 was his announcement to the American League, 2026 will be the rebuttal — even if only he knows exactly whom he’s answering.