One pitcher who helped hold down the fort in 2023 is Kutter Crawford. Crawford has been a steady presence in the rotation, delivering a workmanlike performance in stabilizing a unit once depleted.
Heading into the '23 season, Crawford was expected to be quite the utility pitcher and be flexible as a spot starter and working in long relief.
Early struggles bounced that idea but Crawford, after a brief stay in Triple A Worcester and, later, a short stint on the IL, came back strong. Nick Pivetta rather nicely slid into the role while Crawford gave the Red Sox much needed work as a starter the last couple of months.
Crawford doing the work
To look at Crawford's numbers, one might not be overly impressed. And he's not necessarily delivering All-Star worthy stats or overwhelming performances.
But Crawford (5-6, 3.80 ERA) has been more than enough to help keep the Red Sox (62-56) afloat in the '23 season.
On Sunday in Boston's 6-3 victory over the Detroit Tigers, Crawford didn't deliver his best performance of the season. The outing was even less than expected in only going 4.2 innings.
Crawford didn't have his best stuff in striking out two and he only threw 73 pitches. But he only allowed three hits and two earned runs. There's a chance that Crawford was pulled early because the team has the day off on Monday and manager Alex Cora knew his entire bullpen was at his disposal.
Bouncing back from a bad start was nice to see from Crawford. In three August starts, Crawford has pitched 13 innings and allowed 14 hits and five earned runs. Crawford has 13 strikeouts and walked four.
July was a solid month in which Crawford had a 3.55 ERA in 25.1 innings. He allowed 18 hits and 10 earned runs while striking out 26.
One of the things often preventing Crawford from going deeper in games is the occurrence of one bad inning. This tends to happen at home more than on the road, surprising as pitchers tend to see the reverse happen. And outings bounce between excellent, mediocre, and poor, giving some inconsistency despite being a consistent arm to put out there every five games.
Crawford has had impressive outings in this season's trek. In relief on April 17 against the Los Angeles Angels, Crawford pitched 6.1 innings and only allowed one hit.
In July, Crawford had two outstanding starts. The first was July 16 in Chicago against the Cubs. Crawford did not give up a hit after allowing one to the leadoff batter, throwing six innings and striking out nine.
He followed that up 12 days later with a three-hitter in San Francisco. Crawford went 5.2 innings against the Giants, striking out seven and allowing one earned run.
Going forward, Crawford is the perfect fourth or fifth option in the rotation. Even when he's not throwing his best, Crawford does enough to keep the Red Sox in the game. And should only be buoyed with less pressure at the back end of the rotation.
Red Sox pitchers getting healthy
Starting pitching was supposed to be the least of Boston's worries heading into this season. With seven to eight pitchers readily available to start on any given day, depth was an asset for this group.
Injuries and struggles turned that expectation bleak rather quickly.
Much of the last two months saw the Red Sox using openers and bullpen days in two of the five rotation spots. This not only was worrisome but taxed a bullpen already dealing with injuries and struggles of their own.
Now, daylight is again breaking through.
Chris Sale made a triumphant return in Friday's victory over the Tigers. Sale looked fantastic in retiring the first 14 batters, finishing with seven strikeouts over 4.2 innings while throwing 58 pitches.
Garrett Whitlock, too, looked impressive in his return to the Red Sox. In a bullpen role, Whitlock breezed through two innings, striking out three while allowing one unearned run.
Next on the agenda is the return of Tanner Houck. That could happen within the next seven days, where Cora expects Houck to make one more rehab start. Assuming this is the case, it looks like Houck will return to the rotation upon being recalled to Boston.
This could mean bumping Crawford out, especially if Cora decides to put Pivetta back in. But, he's had plenty of opportunities to do that in recent months and seems content in sticking with Pivetta in relief role.
No matter the case, whether starting or getting the ball in relief, Crawford is up to the task. And with his steady, workmanlike efforts, the Boston Red Sox are in good hands.
photo credit: Flickr
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