No one was shocked when Alex Cora named Boston Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet the opening day starter for the 2026 season. Crochet’s spectacular 2025 season with the Sox saw him finish second in AL Cy Young voting, only falling to Tarik Skubal of the Detroit Tigers.
What did come as a shock however, was an announcement that Crochet himself made. The southpaw told reporters on Monday that he has incorporated a new pitch into his arsenal heading into this season.
According to Jen McCaffrey of “The Athletic,” Crochet has installed a splitter into his arsenal. The splitter is more of a replacement for his changeup than it is a new pitch, but with a similar movement, grip, and arm slot, it’s been a smooth transition.
“It’s kind of more of a splitter now than it has been in the past,” Crochet said. “I felt like I was always pretty timid to buy into that pitch, they kind of scare you growing up that it’ll give you the elbow bug, but I found one grip that works for me, and I’ve been recovering really well.”
Crochet Adds New Pitch to Arsenal Heading Into 2026
So what is the real difference between a changeup and a splitter? It’s a minor contrast, but it may give Crochet the ability to throw it to both left and right-handed hitters.
A changeup and a splitter are the same as far as speed goes; you want both to be about 8-12 MPH slower than your fastball for them to be most effective. But where they’re different is in the late action before they reach the catcher. A changeup has arm side run, breaking the opposite way of a slider or a sweeper. It’s less movement than a true breaking ball, but it’s supposed to be just enough to throw a hitter off at the last second when combined with the slower speed.
A splitter on the other hand doesn’t have break to either side, rather it’s supposed to just drop a little bit at the last second.
The reason for this switch is likely so that Crochet can incorporate it against both lefties and righties. Last season, he threw his changeup only four percent of the time, but it was almost exclusively to right handed hitters. He threw less than one percent of his changeups to lefties.
The changeup is far more effective when it’s breaking away from the hitter. When a left-handed pitcher throws a changeup to a left-handed hitter, that arm side break and reduced speed becomes much easier to make contact with as far as the batters swing path goes. A splitter, when thrown effectively, will have the same effect on all hitters.
Crochet Gearing Up For Another Bid At AL Cy Young
With the news that Crochet would be sitting out for the World Baseball Classic despite being invited by Team USA, he sent a message that his full focus is on Boston and putting up another stellar season.
Crochet finished last season with a record of 18-5, a 2.59 ERA, and 255 strikeouts. He eclipsed 200 innings pitched for the first time in his career.
Red Sox Announce Intriguing News on Ace Garrett Crochet