Garrett Crochet is hardly the first player to trade his Sox from white to red.
Two current members of the Red Sox in Lucas Giolito and Liam Hendriks did so last offseason — Giolito did have two very brief stops in the same season with the Cleveland Guardians and Los Angeles Angels before joining Boston.
Crochet knows Giolito and Hendriks from their time spent together with Chicago as all three were teammates for multiple seasons. They will be reunited now with Boston and both Gioltio and Hendriks, along with other members of the Red Sox, made sure to give Crochet a warm welcome after the trade went through.
“I’ve texted with them a little bit and a little bit of the rest of the team as well. Had a couple guys reach out, so that was really cool to immediately feel welcomed and wanted in the organization,” Crochet told reporters via a Zoom call Friday, per team-provided video. “I really haven’t talked much beyond spring training housing and where guys like to live out in Boston. That’s about as far as the conversations have gone. But I really look forward to sharing the clubhouse with those guys.’
Having a couple of familiar faces already in the locker room — Crochet said he knew Rob Refsnyder a little bit, too — should help ease Crochet’s transition into a big role with the Red Sox.
Boston is counting on Crochet to be the ace of the rotation after just one season of being a full-time starting pitcher. Granted, Crochet excelled in that role, earning All-Star honors and striking out 209 batters in 146 pitchers to go along with a 3.58 ERA.
While Giolito and Hendriks can help get Crochet acclimated, all three will experience something new next season. They will all pitch for the first time in a Red Sox uniform after Giolito missed all of the 2024 campaign due to elbow surgery and Hendriks never made his way fully back in time from Tommy John surgery.
