Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora didn’t waste much time revealing his Opening Day starter for the 2026 campaign.

With pitchers and catchers reporting to Spring Training on Tuesday, Cora announced Garrett Crochet will toe the rubber on March 26 against the Cincinnati Reds when the Red Sox open the new season.

This is anything but surprising, as Crochet was one of the best pitchers in all of Major League Baseball during his first year with Boston in 2025.

He posted a 2.59 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 255 strikeouts in 205.1 innings while finishing second in American League Cy Young voting and eighth in AL MVP voting. He led the league in innings pitched and strikeouts, although Detroit Tigers star Tarik Skubal took home the Cy Young with a league-best 2.21 ERA.

Crochet was also an All-Star in 2024 for the Chicago White Sox, which was his first full season back after he missed the entire 2022 campaign and pitched just 12.2 innings in 2023 because of Tommy John surgery.

While there was some risk for the Red Sox when they traded for him ahead of the 2025 season due to that injury history, he far surpassed expectations and could anchor the rotation for the foreseeable future since he is just 26 years old.

Crochet sits atop a rotation that added some star power this offseason and will look quite different.

The Red Sox signed Ranger Suárez and traded for both Sonny Gray and Johan Oviedo, giving the rotation plenty of depth and impact arms after Crochet. If they can get into the playoffs, having so many quality arms to throw at the opposition in a short series will make them a matchup problem.

Boston reached the playoffs last season but lost to the rival New York Yankees in the AL Wild Card Series. 

It surely has higher expectations for the 2026 season, and it will all begin when Crochet takes the ball in Cincinnati.