Red Sox Promising Hurler's 2024 Season Continues To Be A Crazy Mixed Bag

Tuesday night was just the latest in a long line of confusing outings...

Aug 29, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Kutter Crawford (50) throws a pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Boston Red Sox needed their young starting pitchers to be reliable in 2024 to have any shot at the Major League Baseball postseason.

Fittingly enough, given Boston's position in the standings, the results have fallen just short to this point.

Early in the season, Red Sox starters were shockingly mowing opposing hitters down. But in the second half, most of the rotation has taken a step back, and no one embodies that struggle like 28-year-old Kutter Crawford.

Crawford's roller-coaster second half continued on Tuesday night with a 6 1/3-inning, three-earned run performance in the 5-3 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. The Red Sox fell four games out of playoff position with 17 to play, a back-breaking defeat in a game that was there for the taking.

“He gave us more than enough," manager Alex Cora said of Crawford, per Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. “Velocity was up. The characteristics of the fastball were really good and gave us a chance to win.”

Crawford pitched into the seventh inning for just the sixth time this season, struck out six Orioles, and got out of a crucial jam in the fifth. For most of the outing, he looked great. But he allowed two home runs to Orioles center fielder Cedric Mullins, accounting for all three of the runs on his ledger.

In many ways, it was the quintessential Crawford start. He's become one of the most reliable innings-eaters Boston has had in the 2020s. He was victimized by low run support. And as usual, his undoing was the home run ball.

Crawford has the distinction of leading MLB in three categories this season. He's made 30 starts, tied with four other starting pitchers. He's lost 14 games, tied with the Chicago White Sox's Chris Flexen, who is 2-14. And he's allowed 31 home runs, which is three more than his nearest competitor.

With that said, it hasn't been a "bad" season at all for Crawford, strictly speaking. He's got a 4.09 ERA, which is very respectable in a high-scoring environment like Fenway Park. He's also only three innings away from reaching 170 on the season, which was his stated goal entering the season.

The Red Sox have learned two things about Crawford this year. First, he's cut out for a starter's workload, and can be depended on to continue taking the ball every fifth day for the foreseeable future.

Second, though, they desperately need to find a true ace to take stress off not only Crawford, but the rest of the starting pitching staff. Boston's undoing hasn't been that Crawford has struggled, it's been the fact that they've had no better options.

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