Red Sox starter Cooper Criswell stifles Giants offense in five inning scoreless gem
The Red Sox rotation has been decimated with injuries during the month of April. With Nick Pivetta (right elbow flexor strain), Garrett Whitlock (left oblique strain), and Brayan Bello (right lat tightness) all on the injured list, Kutter Crawford, Tanner Houck, and Cooper Criswell have held down the fort.
Criswell made his third start for the Red Sox on Tuesday night, tossing a five-inning gem where he gave up zero runs with two hits and walked one with four strikeouts in the 4-0 win over the Giants.
His tremendous start was his second straight outing of tossing five scoreless frames while earning the win in the process. Through four outings with the Red Sox, Criswell is now 2-1 with a 1.65 ERA.
“It feels good,” Criswell said. “Any time you can go out and contribute and help the team win, obviously that feels good.”
Criswel has been effective in throwing his four-pitch mix of a sweeper, a sinker, a changeup, and a cutter. None of his pitches are overpowering, his sinker has topped out at 89.6 mph, according to his Baseball Savant page.
“He was good,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora after the game. “Really good. He went east/west. He kept them off-balanced, got some swing and misses. He was good in spring training, and he’s been good for us. He threw the ball well in Worcester. This was the plan, you know, when we decided to go with the five guys. At one point, he was going to be part of this. We know how it works. I'm pleased that he's here doing his thing, and he'll be ready for his next one.”
Criswell battled for a final rotation spot in spring training but ultimately was optioned to the WooSox. He made two starts to open the season, with Worcester tossing 10 1/3 innings, giving up just one run off eight hits while posting a 0.87 ERA.
“Just truly going in and throwing any pitch in any count to keep hitters off-balance and be unpredictable,” Criswell said. “Obviously, I feel like that’s Bailey’s game plan, and he has gotten the best out of all of us so far.
In a short sample size, the 6-foot-6, 200 pound righty is showing why the Red Sox signed him back in December.
“This,” said manager Alexa Cora. “I mean, just a guy that can pitch. He has pitchability. He throws strikes. He can move the ball around. It doesn’t always have to be 96–97 mph.. There's certain guys that, with the movement and obviously where they go with their pitches, keep hitters off-balance, and that's what he does.”
The Red Sox rotation continues to put up insane numbers under the leadership of Craig Breslow, Andrew Bailey, Justin Willard, and more.
“We expected to be consistent. I don’t know about the numbers,” Cora said. “I know that every single night, I feel very comfortable with where we're going to be pitching-wise. Obviously, the numbers speak for themselves. For me, and this is not because of what we did in April, I felt very comfortable in spring training. We pitched well in spring training. All the guys. I can’t recall somebody that struggled. It’s a testament of the program, and it’s a testament of the guys putting the work.”
