In his first season as a full-time starter in 2024, Crochet went 6-12 with a 3.58 ERA, a 1.068 WHIP and 209 strikeouts over 146 innings.

He ranked fourth in the American League in strikeouts. He would have finished in the top five in WHIP had he qualified with more innings pitched. Crochet allowed three earned runs or fewer in 25 of his 32 starts and issued just 33 walks all season.

The 6-foot-6 left-hander has overwhelming power on the mound, reaching triple digits with his fastball while also limiting contact with right-handed hitters with a cutter.

According to Baseball Savant, Crochet ranks in the 98th percentile among pitchers in strikeout percentage, 93rd percentile in chase percentage and 87th percentile in walk percentage.

While several pitchers with plus stuff on the mound typically have leadership issues, Crochet hasn’t been hindered by those issues in 2024.

When it comes to pure stuff on the mound, Crochet is one of the best in the big leagues right now.

Crochet fits into Boston’s upcoming competitive window

The Red Sox failed in their bid to sign free agent Max Fried on Tuesday – an outcome made more frustrating by the fact that Boston lost out to the Yankees for the talented left-hander.

But a 25-year-old starter like Crochet could be a better investment for the Red Sox than Fried, who turns 31 in January.

While Boston still has the financial flexibility to add another pitcher like Burnes or Jack Flaherty in free agency, the deal for Crochet gives the team a No. 1 pitcher under team control for the next few seasons.

Crochet is not expected to hit free agency until after the 2026 season, giving Boston a cost-controlled asset that should bolster a roster capable of adding more young talent to the big league roster in the coming years, including Roman Anthony, Marcelo Mayer and Kristian Campbell.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan noted on the “Baseball Tonight” podcast last month that teams “know Crochet will sign a contract extension” if he is dealt this offseason.

The onus now falls on the Red Sox to try and sign Crochet in the near future before his value continues to rise.

He doesn’t have a proven track record as a starter

There’s no doubt about Crochet’s potential and appeal as a young, budget-conscious star.

But as we’ve already mentioned, the 25-year-old isn’t exactly a proven talent when it comes to his role as a starter.

Crochet debuted with the White Sox in 2020 and was initially a power arm out of the bullpen, posting a 2.82 ERA as a full-time reliever in 54 appearances in 2021.

After missing the entire 2022 season due to injury (more on that shortly), Crochet returned in 2023 and played 13 relief games for the White Sox.

Crochet immediately had impressive returns in 2024 after switching roles as a starter. But be it injury concerns or his lack of strong reps in the big leagues, the White Sox limited Crochet’s workload down the stretch.

Crochet pitched six or more innings 11 times in his first 18 starts of the season – going 6-6 with a 3.02 ERA and 141 strikeouts in just 101.1 innings before July 1.

But as Chicago’s season stretched into the hottest days of the summer, the White Sox made a concerted effort to curb Crochet’s repetitions. After June, he pitched no more than four innings in a start, with his ERA rising to 4.84 in his last 14 appearances (just 44.2 innings).

“We’re at a point now where he’s putting up numbers that really no one knows about,” then-Chicago manager Pedro Grifol said of Crochet in June. “The only thing we can do is our communication with him, our elite athletes, the way his body reacts, the tests he does in the weight room.

“We’re doing well at the moment. There will be a time where we probably need to slow it down a bit. That time is not now.”

Of course, some of those lackluster results were also the result of playing with a disastrous 41-121 Chicago squad.

But the Red Sox will need to keep a close eye on Crochet to make sure he doesn’t run out of energy when the stakes are raised in September (and possibly October).

He has dealt with injuries

Crochet’s limited reps as a starter are a direct result of two seasons marked largely by injuries.

After his promising performance as a reserve player in 2021, Crochet missed the entire 2022 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April 2022. He returned to the majors from the bullpen in May 2023, but also spent another stint on the injured list that year due to left shoulder inflammation.

After making his comeback in 2024, Crochet was named the American League’s Comeback Player of the Year last season, with Braves star Chris Sale earning the award in the National League.

A tough starter like Crochet is always at risk of being bitten by the injury bug – something Boston is familiar with after several complaints limited sales after signing a five-year, $145 million contract extension in 2019.

He doesn’t know Fenway Park

Crochet doesn’t exactly have much experience as a pitcher at Fenway Park.

Entering the 2025 season, Crochet has only pitched a total of three innings at the Red Sox ballpark, giving up eight hits and five earned runs.

The left-hander had a game to forget against Boston on September 7, 2024, when the Red Sox tagged him for four earned runs in just two innings en route to a 7-5 win at Fenway.

But Crochet fared better against Boston early in the 2024 season, leading Chicago to a 7-2 victory over the Red Sox on June 7 at Guaranteed Rate Field. Boston’s bats struggled to solve Crochet in this game, with Crochet limiting the Red Sox to just three hits and one earned run while allowing 10 hits over six innings.

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.