Garrett Crochet's injury news dominated Boston Red Sox circles on Wednesday, and it's time to start thinking about what his scheduled start days are going to look like moving forward.
It was easy enough to predict that Triple-A left-hander Jake Bennett would be the man to replace Crochet in the short term. Not only has he been the Worcester Red Sox's most consistent starter so far this season, but he was scratched from his scheduled outing against the Rochester Red Wings on Tuesday, making it apparent that something was up with the major league roster.
Manager Chad Tracy told MassLive on Wednesday that the "likelihood was probable" that Bennett would fill in for Crochet on Friday when the Red Sox begin their series against the Houston Astros, though the decision wasn't yet final. But we don't need an official announcement to tell us that it's time for Sox fans to do their homework on Bennett.
Why Red Sox traded for Bennett in December
We should first acknowledge that Bennett essentially took the place of righty Luis Perales in the Red Sox farm system. Boston and the Washington Nationals flipped two of their top pitching prospects for one another in a surprising December trade. Both were on their teams' 40-man rosters at the time, and both started the year with their new ballclubs in Triple-A.
Though Perales might have the more explosive stuff, Bennett's appeal was obvious to the Red Sox. He's 6-foot-6, generates a ton of extension, and is also a strike thrower. The 25-year-old was drafted 45th overall in 2022 out of the University of Oklahoma, where he was teammates with Chicago Cubs standout Cade Horton.
In his first five starts of the season down in Worcester, Bennett has been nearly flawless, pitching to a 0.86 ERA and holding opposing batters to a .162 batting average. He might not be striking out as many batters as one might like in the minors (16 in 21 innings), but his 0.71 WHIP also means he's keeping them off base by any means necessary.
Though the circumstances of his impending major league debut wouldn't classify as ideal, Bennett should still be an exciting arm for Red Sox fans to track in the weeks to come.