Crochett, Elder, Should Have A Rock Fight

Red Sox vs. Braves, 1:35 ET

With football, you have to evaluate how defense will play against offense, and how special teams come into play. With basketball, you have to see who is hot versus who isn't, and then worry about who is sitting out because it is a back-to-back. With hockey, teams are giving full effort every play, every game, and certain goalies can get hot. For baseball, it sometimes comes down to who is pitching better than their opponent. What happens when you get two good pitchers facing each other, though? That's what we have here as the Red Sox take on the Braves.

The Red Sox are a team that has flown a bit under the radar as they are under .500 and don't show many signs that they will find a way to get above that mark. They have the hitting - Alex Bregman is doing well, Rafael Devers, for all the issues he has brought to the club this year, is batting as expected, and they even have Wilyer Abreu contributing the long ball. They play in a tough division, but so what? That happens to a lot of teams. Boston needs to improve their consistency if they want to make a run at the Wild Card. I'm sure their front office is willing to tinker, but if they get further under .500, they may turn into sellers at the deadline instead of buyers. Today they get a guy they bought into in Garrett Crochet. For the season, he has been as good as could be expected. Crochet is 4-4 with a 2.04 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He has been a strikeout machine as well, punching out 89 guys over 75 innings. He has been very good on the road this season, and Braves hitters are only batting .188 against him in almost 50 tries.

Apr 13, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA;  Boston Red Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet (35) high fives teammates after he pitched against the Chicago White Sox during the first inning at Guaranteed Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images

The Braves are another team that is not having the most enjoyable start to the season. Sure, they are okay, and their record isn't that far off from the Red Sox, but they are in a similar spot to today's opponent. They need to start playing consistent baseball. After climbing out of the bottom of the NL East, they are still fighting for position and trying to see if they can make a push to be one of the top three teams. Let me rephrase - they will finish as a top three team, but they probably already need to start thinking about the Wild Card as opposed to the Division. They've had players returning from injury which will make a big difference and impact, but ultimately, they need that same consistency that I mentioned for the Red Sox. Bryce Elder, one of the injured guys, is back. This will be a tough task for him going against Crochet, but he does seem to have the stuff to do it. He is also a better home pitcher, having almost full runs lower in ERA on his home mound. 

This is going to be a rock fight. It has all the makings of a pitcher's duel. Do I have a great feeling on who will win? Absolutely not. Neither team has been reliable to regularly back. I think there is potential that both could be impactful in this game, but the real story here is the starting staff. Back the under and don't think twice about it. 

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