BALTIMORE – Garrett Crochet has barely started enough games in his career to comprise an entire major league season, still has the youthful sheen of a 25-year-old, and yet has toted the mental weight of a much older player.
From the college diamond in Knoxville, to the 11th pick in the draft, to a lightning-quick debut, a trip to the operating table for a new elbow ligament, a hopeless situation with Major League Baseball’s worst team and finally, a trade that united his elite stuff with a team that could do something with it, Crochet has seen some things in his baseball career.
So when he took the mound Wednesday night at Camden Yards, barely a day after agreeing to a six-year, $170 million contract extension with the Boston Red Sox, Crochet enjoyed a freedom so unfamiliar that he couldn’t place the most recent time he felt it.
“I can’t think of the last time I played baseball for pride,” Crochet said after dominating a very good Baltimore Orioles lineup in a 3-0 conquest, his first win as a Red Sox. “In college, you’re playing to get drafted. Once you’re in the big leagues, you’re playing to stay in the big leagues.
“To have the security and feel like I’m playing to truly just win ballgames, it takes a lot of the riff-raff out of it.”
And suddenly, the skies on the horizon are looking very bright for Crochet and the Red Sox.
Sure, they’ve won just two of their first six games – both wins started by Crochet – but the events of the past 48 hours further cemented the Red Sox’s newfound aggression of playing both for now and the future, of procuring good players, putting their faith in them and then rewarding them with long-term security.
First, Crochet: With nearly two full years before free agency, the Red Sox and his representatives agreed on a six-year, $170 million extension Monday night, with a chance to opt out after the 2030 season.
Then, second baseman Kristian Campbell: He’s been a major leaguer for just six games but on Wednesday agreed to an eight-year, $60 million contract that gives him some cash up front and ties him to Boston through at least 2032, with two club options that can raise the value to $96 million.
All that comes on the heels of the bold trade that landed Crochet ...
