Red Sox Notes: Garrett Crochet gets early hook in series finale to Mets, Liam Hendriks frustrated with role, Boston trades for first baseman

Note: Red Sox were postponed tonight vs. Orioles. Day/night doubleheader on Friday.

After pitching 11 innings to start the series against the Mets, the Red Sox bullpen was short-handed due to overuse the previous two nights. With the bullpen relatively unavailable, Boston opted to use left-handed ace Garrett Crochet for 5 1/3 innings, throwing 85 pitches in the 5-1 loss to the Mets on Wednesday night.

Alex Cora removed his ace with one out in the sixth as the Sox were trailing 1-0. Crochet received an early hook from the game because the Sox wanted to take care of the pitcher over the long haul of the season. The southpaw leads the majors with 68 1/3 innings pitched.

“It’s not tough; it’s for the benefit of the player. We’re here for the long run, and we need that guy to make his starts, and for us to go to where we feel we can go, we need him,” Cora said postgame. “We’re going to find some days to take advantage of them regardless of the situation; we have to put the player first. He was very upset at the beginning, and then he was OK with it. Obviously we were short, but that doesn’t dictate what we’re going to do with our ace.”

Crochet said after the game that he was unaware of Cora’s game plan of limiting his pitches during his start on Wednesday.

“I wasn’t made aware of it before the game, thankfully; that’s the last thing I want on my mind when I’m going out there ready to lay it all on the line,” Crochet said. “I have a lot of love and respect and trust in the front office and the coaching staff here, so if that’s their call, I’m going to respect that.”

Crochet’s 85 pitches were the fewest he’s thrown in his 11 starts this season. The lefty has thrown more than 100 pitches five times and 94 pitches or more in eight starts.

Even though Crochet respects Cora’s plan and decision, he still prefers to remain in the game and compete for his teammates.

“I was frustrated,” Crochet said. “Just wanted a chance to pick up my teammates, the bullpen. They’ve obviously worked really hard this series. And I wanted to try and keep them out of it as much as possible. He (Cora) was just kinda letting me know, ‘Hey, we’re monitoring your workload, this sort of thing.’ And I said, ‘I get it.’ I apologized for yelling a curse word on the field when I saw him coming out there. I wasn’t trying to show him up. I was just really in the moment.

“I knew where my pitch count was and how my body was feeling,” Crochet added. “So I was excited to attack the next hitter. But it was in no way my intention to show him up in any form.”

Crochet told reporters he was prepared to throw seven or eight innings and even “115 pitches if that’s what it took.”

“I like to think that I’m built up for that workload at this point,” Crochet said. “Obviously the focus is on being healthy in October, which I understand. But my focus right now is looking out for my teammates, trying to pick up slack when there needs to be. If I’m gonna be the starting pitcher that we’re looking towards right now, I wanna go out there and lead the league in innings. I want to throw as many innings as possible.”

Crochet has been as advertised since being acquired from the White Sox, recording a 1.98 ERA (68 1/3 innings), a 1.07 WHIP, and 78 strikeouts with 22 walks in 11 starts. The Sox are just 6-5 in outings he starts this season.

“It is tough because in a lot of my starts I may give up one or two (runs), but I’m allowing the other team to get on the board first,” Crochet said. “That kind of puts us in a tough spot. Run support or not, I’m expecting to go out there and not give up any on my own behalf. My expectation — and I think that the team’s expectation — is when I take the mound, we could win the game 1-0.

“When I give up one as early as I did today, I think that I put the other team in a position of power,” he added. “Just gotta work on the first time through the lineup. I know the second and third time through the lineup I’ve been pretty good. But the first time through the lineup, for whatever reason, I seem to be giving up some damage right now.”

HENDRIKS FRUSTRATED

It appears that Crochet wasn’t the only Red Sox pitcher expressing some frustration following the Sox’ loss on Wednesday night.

Liam Hendriks, a reliever, expressed his desire to pitch in more high-leverage roles and achieved his goal. Unfortunately for the righty, he was saddled with the loss after being tagged for three runs and recording just two outs in relief of Crochet.

The three-time All-Star entered the night with a 3.38 ERA but saw that number balloon to 5.56 over 10 2/3 innings.

“There was a couple of games where it was like I was the last guy in the bullpen,” Hendriks said after the game. “It’s a new experience for me. I felt like I had been pitching well to get trusted in a couple of those situations, and it didn’t come to fruition. We had a couple of chats. I got in there today, and it didn’t quite work out.”

Prior to the series finale, Hendriks told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier that he had “no idea” what his role in Boston’s bullpen was and that his lack of usage had become a “source of contention” that had necessitated “multiple conversations” with the team. Hendriks stated he has not asked for a trade, but he’s certainly not happy with his current positioning with the club.

“I just want to pitch,” Hendriks told Speier. “I feel like I can make contributions to this team. I feel like I can make a lot more contributions than I have been, and I just want to be given that opportunity.”

After the game, Hendriks confirmed to reporters that he has had conversations with the Red Sox about his position in the bullpen and not getting the ball as often as he would like.

“I think they understand the frustrations,” he said. “I haven’t been a guy who has been taken out of a game in six years, and now, it has happened back-to-back games. I don’t like that. But, I understand it. I feel like I haven’t been pitching enough. If you want me to be me, I’ve got to pitch. I’ll rust before I wear out, and that’s something.”

In his high-leverage spots, Cora has primarily relied on closer Aroldis Chapman, Justin Slaten, Garrett Whitlock, and Justin Wilson, leaving Hendriks on the sidelines.

Hendriks began the season on the 15-day injured list after getting a cortisone shot in his right elbow. Since his return, he has not pitched in back-to-back games despite Cora stating he wants to use the right-handed hurler more in games.

“We have to use him. That’s on me,” Cora said. “That’s on the pitching department. We’ve got to trust him. There’s a reason he’s here. Been there, done that. Right now, numbers-wise, he has been solid. The fastball is trending up, which is great. He has been able to bury the slider and the curveball, which is great. We have to use him.

“That’s the hard part. You want to take it easy with him, but at the same time, if we don’t use him, we’re doing a disservice not only to him but the whole bullpen. He needs to be a big part of this.”

On Wednesday, with the game tied 1-1, Crochet's removal gave Hendriks a bigger opportunity. He allowed three singles after getting two quick strikeouts. Cora had seen enough and removed him for Brennan Bernardino.

“I don’t know what it was, whether I was tired, just yanking pitches, or trying to overthrow stuff,” Hendriks said. “Just didn’t go my way. Unfortunately, that cost us the game.”

As the Sox continue to play .500 baseball, additional internal issues are coming to light. Since the start of the spring, the spotlight has been on Rafael Devers and his reluctance to move off third base to DH, which was followed by his frustration with the club, particularly Craig Breslow, for asking him to play first base. Hendriks’ frustrations might be warranted for a reliever that has served mostly as a closer in his career but has been ineffective since being recalled off the IL. His issues have really stemmed from the spring.

“At the end of the day, I’ve got to reward them (for) throwing me by getting guys out,” Hendriks said. “If I’m not doing that, I don’t deserve to pitch.

“Regardless of any situation, I’ve got to go out there and get the job done when I do pitch. Today, I didn’t.”

RED SOX ACQUIRE FIRST BASEMAN

The Red Sox made a trade on Thursday, acquiring first baseman Ryan Noda from the Angels for cash considerations.

Boston has a gaping hole at first base since losing Triston Casas for the season with a knee injury. The Sox have been using Abraham Toro and Nick Sogard the last couple of weeks. Romy Gonzalez was expected to play first base, but a left quadriceps contusion has put him on the IL. Gonzalez has reportedly suffered a setback as he was beginning to ramp up baseball activities.

"He’s not bouncing back the way we wanted," Cora said of Gonzalez, per the Globe. "It’s going to take longer than expected."

Noda, 29, was optioned to Triple-A Worcester, where he will join the WooSox. He also required a 40-man roster spot, and to accommodate that, the Sox transferred rehabbing outfielder/DH Masataka Yoshida to the 60-day injured list.

Noda is a left-handed hitter who has been at the Angels' Triple-A affiliate, where he was hitting .148 with four homers, eight RBI, 53 strikeouts, and a .633 OPS in 29 games. He is just two years removed from hitting 16 homers in his rookie season with the Athletics. He recorded a 2.2-bWAR season in Oakland in 2023 as a Rule 5 pick, hitting .229 with 16 homers, 54 RBI, and a .770 OPS in 128 games for the A’s. Noda has also spent time in the Blue Jays and Dodgers organizations.

The acquisition of Noda is another band-aid to place on the wound as the Red Sox try to find a more long-term solution at the position this season.

Kristian Campbell is taking reps at the position, working with Jose Flores over the last week. Devers was asked to play the position, but he hasn’t changed his mind about learning it and has remained the team’s primary DH.