Red Sox' Pitchers Fantasy Baseball Preview | Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Aroldis Chapman, Walker Buehler, Liam Hendriks and More

Let's wrap up our fantasy baseball team preview on the Boston Red Sox by looking at the team's pitchers. We looked at hitters in another story.

We've covered the Mets (hitters and pitchers), Twins (hitters and pitchers), Giants (hitters and pitchers), Athletics (hitters and pitchers), Pirates (hitters and pitchers), Mariners (hitters and pitchers), Rockies (hitters and pitchers), Rays (hitters and pitchers), Braves (hitters and pitchers) and White Sox (hitters and pitchers) already.

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Top Fantasy Pitchers

A few Boston pitchers appear on the FantasySP ADP list so far.

Garrett Crochet is the first one listed, going at pick 35.78 on average.

Tanner Houck is next at pick 145.22. Then, it's Aroldis Chapman at pick 169.5.

Kutter Crawford, Liam Hendriks, Walker Buehler and Brayan Bello are four more options in the final rounds.

Crochet was traded from the White Sox to the Red Sox this offseason, which is a big boost to his fantasy outlook. 

In his first season as a full-time starter in 2024, Crochet had a 6-12 record, but a 3.58 earned run average. He struck out a whopping 209 batters over 146 innings.

You'd expect his workload to expand in his second year of starting, and his innings and strikeouts should rise as a result. I'd also expect his win-loss record to be better, even if his ERA stays about the same or even goes down.

Crochet is being drafted inside the top-10 fantasy starting pitchers right now, which would be a decent leap for him from last year, but again, more innings should make that doable. I'd be fine taking Crochet as my top fantasy SP, and think he'll power fantasy teams to big things in 2024.

Houck only scored three less fantasy points than Crochet in 2024, but he also covered 178 2/3 innings.

In his 30 starts, Houck went 9-10 with a 3.12 ERA - he has a career 3.55 ERA. Houck struck out 154 batters last season.

You can see his fantasy upside with his low ERA and good amount of innings covered. I'd like to see him strike out a few more batters a game, but think his ADP is fair. His fantasy floor is decent, and he could exceed his ADP just by getting to 30 starts again. I'm fine taking him to round out my fantasy rotation, and think he'll be a keeper all season.

Chapman and Hendriks are in a battle for the Boston closer job.

Chapman is probably the safer pick, and fantasy option, as he's pitched over the past few seasons. In 2024, Chapman had a 3.79 ERA across 68 games and 61 2/3 innings. He struck out 98 batters, went 5-5 and claimed 14 saves.

Hendriks hasn't pitched since 2023, and only got in five games that year. His career numbers are great, but until we see that consistently again, he's hard to trust as a fantasy asset.

My guess is on Chapman being the better fantasy option, but I think both guys could earn saves throughout the season. Honestly, their presence makes the other a worse fantasy option, and I'd do my best to avoid taking them in standard leagues until a closer is named. They are both good options the deeper a league gets.

Crawford made 33 starts in 2024, posting an OK 4.36 ERA. He won nine games, but lost 16. Crawford had 175 punchouts over 183 2/3 innings.

His ADP means he's a very low-risk standard league option. I wouldn't mind taking a gamble on him, but think he'll be more of a streamer than a year-long keeper, especially because he's iffy for opening day with knee soreness. Crawford should be kept in most deeper leagues if he's healthy and sticks in the rotation.

Buehler made 16 starts for the Dodgers in 2024, going 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA. He's just a couple years removed from being one of the better starters in the league, so I get why Boston took a chance on him. He had 64 punchouts over 75 1/3 innings last season.

Even when Crawford is healthy, Buehler should stick in the rotation. Again, I wouldn't mind using a very late pick on him, but think he'll be more of a streamer than a standard league keeper. Because of his past, I'd keep a closer eye and have higher hopes for Buehler though.

Bello is projected to be the team's fifth starter right now, so his time in the rotation could end when Crawford is healthy.

In 30 starts a season ago, Bello had a 14-8 record, but a 4.49 ERA. He had 153 punchouts over 162 1/3 innings. There's some streaming value with him in standard leagues, but with no locked-in role, I think he's a better deep-league asset to begin the season.

Other Starting Options

Lucas Giolito is the projected No. 4 starter in Boston right now. Chris Murphy and Patrick Sandoval are injured pitchers who could also be starters in 2025. Murphy should be back pretty early in the season, while Sandoval is an option for the second half of the year.

Giolito hasn't pitched since 2023, when he had a 4.88 ERA across 33 starts with three different teams. He averages 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings, so there's some fantasy upside with him if he can lower his ERA.

He is a deep-league option to begin the season, but could be a standard league streamer at points. The same could probably be said for Murphy and Sandoval if they ever get starting nods this season.

Garrett Whitlock, Justin Slaten, Greg Weissert, Justin Wilson and Brennan Bernardino are the other projected bullpen arms, while Zach Penrod could also work his way in, but is dealing with elbow soreness right now. Josh Winckowski is the projected long reliever for now.

I don't see many of those bullpen guys being big fantasy assets because of the co-closers right now, and the depth among starting pitchers. It's still worth mentioning those guys though.

Top Prospects

Boston has no pitching prospects in the MLB's top-100 list. Luis Perales, Richard Fitts, Hunter Dobbins, Luis Guerrero and Penrod are top-30 prospects of the team from the end of last season who could work into the mix in 2025.

Perales has an ETA of 2026, but is the highest-ranked pitcher in the team's system. He has a 3.24 career ERA in the minors across 161 innings, while having 224 strikeouts, 83 walks and .219 average against him.

Fitts made four MLB starts in 2024, going 0-1 but with a 1.74 ERA. He had just nine strikeouts and walked seven over 20 2/3 innings. He's got a 3.75 ERA in the minor leagues, along with 405 strikeouts, 100 walks and a .232 average against him across 381 1/3 frames.

Dobbins has a 3.78 ERA across three minor league seasons. In 307 1/3 innings, Dobbins has 310 punchouts, 101 walks and a .253 average against him.

Guerrero made his MLB debut in 2024, pitching 10 scoreless innings across nine games. He struck out nine batters along the way. Guerrero has a 2.93 ERA and 106 punchouts across 147 2/3 minor league innings, and could be a late-inning option if Hendriks or Chapman are out of commission.

Penrod pitched four MLB innings across seven games in 2024. In 95 minor league innings (19 starts in 30 appearances), Penrod has a 3.98 ERA, 129 strikeouts and 50 walks, along with a .218 average against him.

Quinn Priester, Bryan Mata, Yovanny Cruz and Jacob Webb are some other pitchers age 25 or below who are in big league camp this spring.