Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet receives a lowball ranking in MLB pitching rankings
The MLB Network's annual Top 10 positional rankings were released this week, with Red Sox ace and '25 AL Cy Young runner-up Garrett Crochet ranked as the No. 6 starting pitcher in the game.
Reigning AL and NL Cy Young winners Tarik Skubal (Tigers) and Paul Skenes (Pirates) took the top two spots, respectively. While this ranking was expected, the No. 3 and No. 4 spots were less predictable. Phillies ace Zack Wheeler, who made 24 starts totaling 149.2 innings before requiring thoracic outlet decompression surgery, ranks third. Chris Sale, who was limited to 21 games due to a fractured left rib cage, slotted in fourth for the '25 Braves.
Cristopher Sánchez of the Phillies took the fifth spot, leading the majors with 8.0 WAR last season, pitching to career-best statistics.
Crochet's impressive performance last year included ranking in the 99th MLB percentile in Pitching Run Value, leading the AL with 205.1 innings and a 11.2 strikeouts-per-nine-innings, and topping the majors with 255 strikeouts. He also outperformed the five pitchers ranked ahead of him in innings and win-loss record (18-5), and he, Skenes, and Sánchez co-led MLB with 32 starts each.
Despite these outstanding achievements, Crochet's ranking of No. 6 was considered low by many.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto's placement at seventh was also surprisingly low, given his contributions to the Los Angeles Dodgers' second consecutive World Series championship last fall.
