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The Red Sox announced a major pitching decision after Garrett Crochet’s injury, turning to left-hander Jake Bennett ahead of the Astros series.

The Boston Red Sox announced that rookie left-hander Jake Bennett will make his MLB debut Friday, taking the rotation spot vacated by injured ace Garrett Crochet to start a weekend series against the Houston Astros at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox confirmed the assignment Friday morning, announcing Bennett as the starter against Houston, according to The Boston Globe‘s Tim Healey. Bennett, a 25-year-old left-hander standing 6-foot-6, arrives from Triple-A Worcester having allowed just two earned runs over 21 innings this season, an eye-popping 0.86 ERA across five starts that made the decision appear inevitable once Crochet’s shoulder inflammation surfaced.

As if making his big league debut wasn’t enough pressure for the former Washington Nationals‘ prized prospect, Bennett must also act as the stopper in the Red Sox rotation. Interim manager Chad Tracy’s club has dropped two straight after opening his tenure with back-to-back wins, and a struggling offense now needs Bennett to hold the Astros down in a series the Red Sox cannot afford to surrender.

Bennett Gets the Ball for Debut at Fenway

Tracy had been watching Bennett closely long before the call-up became necessary.

“You’re looking at a legitimate big league starting pitcher candidate,” Tracy told the Worcester Telegram & Gazette on April 22, following Bennett’s final Triple-A outing for the Worcester Red Sox. “We’re pumped to have him. We feel pretty blessed that we were able to acquire him.”

Tracy added that the command profile made Bennett stand out even among the system’s deep inventory of big-framed arms.

“The velocity has climbed back up into the mid-90s. He’s in the zone, he is landing all of his stuff for strikes. You can’t ask for much more than what he’s done,” his manager said of Bennett.

Jake Bennett’s Path Through the Red Sox System

Bennett reached Boston via a prospect-for-prospect deal last December, when chief baseball officer Craig Breslow sent right-hander Luis Perales to Washington in exchange for the southpaw. The transaction was the first between Breslow and former Red Sox assistant Paul Toboni, who departed Boston’s front office last fall to become the Nationals’ president of baseball operations.

“We believe we are getting a major league-caliber starting pitcher,” Breslow said at the time of the swap, as quoted by MLB.com‘s Ian Browne. “The combination of whiff and strikes is unique, and we started to see the performance catch up in the [Arizona Fall League].”

Bennett sat out all of 2024 after Tommy John surgery in September 2023. Returning last season, he posted a 2.27 ERA across three levels in the Washington system before Boston slotted him at Worcester this spring. In five Triple-A starts, he struck out 16 while walking just three.

Boston Red Sox Rotation Depth Tested After Cora Firing

The call-up lands in the midst of the most turbulent stretch for the franchise in years. Six days ago, principal owner John Henry, team president Sam Kennedy and Breslow flew privately to Baltimore to dismiss eight-year manager Alex Cora following a 9-16 start, according to MassLive‘s Sean McAdam and Chris Cotillo. Tracy, who managed Bennett at Worcester, took over immediately.

Tracy won his first two games at the helm before the Red Sox dropped the next two, placing Friday’s series finale against Houston in must-win territory. Bennett, who told the Telegram & Gazette he tries to “take the game one pitch at a time,” now walks into exactly that situation — a packed Fenway Park, a rattled clubhouse, and a rotation that needs him to deliver on Day 1.