Garrett Crochet has a 7.88 ERA through five starts with the Red Sox.
A 7.88.
Boston locked him up for six years and $170 million around the time of the trade. Somewhere in Chicago, a White Sox fan is re-reading that number and feeling something they haven’t felt since 2005 — a faint, confusing warmth.
We spent all winter in mourning. Crochet was the one guy on that roster who made you believe this rebuild wasn’t completely made up. Trading him felt like punting on a generation. Message boards were miserable. The takes were dark. The discourse was apocalyptic in that specific South Side way where everyone assumes the worst because the worst is usually what happens.
Then he goes to Boston and puts up a 7.88 ERA. He lasted just 1.2 innings against the Twins while they scored 11 runs off him. His first-pitch strike rate dropped from 31.5% last year to 25.2%. His putaway rate on the sweeper fell off a cliff — 30% to 19%. He’s 72nd out of 73 qualified pitchers in ERA right now.
He said it himself after his rough April stretch:
Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet was absolutely ambushed tonight by the Minnesota Twins, and suffered the worst start of his career:
1.2 innings
9 hits
11 runs
10 earned runs
3 walks
0 strikeouts.
Twins 11, Red Sox 0 (3rd inning).— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) April 14, 2026
“I’m surprised I’ve given up 16 runs in my past two starts and haven’t made it into the sixth in either of them. I’m surprised I’m letting the team down at the level I am right now.”
That’s a guy who knows something is wrong.
Now — and this part matters — it’s five starts. Small sample. April is not a verdict. Crochet was 18-5, 2.59 ERA with 255 strikeouts last season. He’s not washed. He will probably figure this out.
But that’s not really the point.
The point is the White Sox sold at the PEAK. Before anyone saw this coming. Before the workload concerns became a story — the guy went from 72 total innings over four years to 146, then 205 in a single season. Some regression was baked in. The White Sox just didn’t have to live with it.
What they got instead: Kyle Teel hit .288/.376/.457 with 8 homers in 53 games after his debut last year. Wikelman Gonzalez posted a 2.66 ERA out of the bullpen. Chase Meidroth is already in the everyday lineup. And Braden Montgomery — the headliner — is putting up a 1.211 OPS at Double-A Birmingham right now and is the No. 1 prospect in the organization.
Four pieces. Three already at the MLB level. One of them mashing in Double-A with a ceiling that probably scares the Red Sox a little.
The trade looked like a loss the day it happened. That’s just what White Sox trades look like on day one. But four months into 2026, the return is producing and the guy they traded has a WHIP of 1.63 and is pulling himself off mounds in the second inning.
We’ll take it.
