Crawford has best outing of 2023 vs. AL East champ Orioles

BALTIMORE -- Starter? Reliever? Both?

The Red Sox will decide on a role for Kutter Crawford at some point before the 2024 season starts.

The one thing Crawford established -- and emphasized further in a standout performance on Saturday -- is that he should be an important piece for the club going forward.

Crawford’s final outing of 2023 was his best. The 27-year-old mowed through the American League East champion Orioles, firing six scoreless innings in which he allowed one hit and no walks while striking out seven. He took a no-decision in Boston’s 5-2 loss at Camden Yards.

“He was excellent,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “Good four-seamer. Good breaking ball. The split is getting better, especially the last two outings. A lot of swings and misses. Finished the season strong. That was a good one.”

The biggest point of development the Red Sox are seeking from Crawford next season is for him to go deeper into his starts.

Saturday marked the fifth time in Crawford’s 23 starts this season he went six innings. This outing was one of Crawford’s most efficient, as he threw just 76 pitches to record 18 outs.

Upon finishing his first full season in the Majors with a 4.04 ERA over 129 1/3 innings in which he held opponents to a .221 batting average and .669 OPS, Crawford is confident he can take that next crucial step.

He thinks it will be a combination of physical and mental preparation.

“Yeah, [my belief in that] is very strong,” Crawford said. “I know I have the ability to do it. And I think at the end of the day, it's all about just throwing a bunch of strikes, staying on the attack. There were some outings in the year where I didn't do as good of a job doing strikes, but I've seen that when I do those strikes and I attack hitters and I stay ahead of hitters, I'm able to go deeper into ballgames more efficiently.”

While Crawford’s role fluctuated earlier in the season, his final 20 appearances were all starts. That gave him an idea of what he needs to do to prepare himself for a wire-to-wire season of being in a starting rotation.

“Once I take a couple of weeks off, it's back to the grindstone, trying to get the body in the best position possible to do it all again and then some next year, “ Crawford said. “You know, try to focus on the lower half, making it stronger and moving better and just being better physically.”

Backed by an expansive repertoire (fastball, cutter, curve, splitter, sweeper and slider), Crawford has a lot of different looks to throw at hitters.

Cora joked earlier this season about Crawford’s selection being like a buffet, and how some nights he needs to narrow down his assortment depending on what is working best. On Saturday, he led with his fastball, throwing it 49 percent of the time and getting seven of his 11 swings and misses on it.

“I think he has grown,” said Cora. “There are a lot of guys the last few weeks who have improved as far as getting information and trying to learn how to study the game and all that. He’s one of them. He has a good feel for pitching.”

Crawford joins Garrett Whitlock, Tanner Houck and Josh Winckowski as pitchers who might be either starter or relievers next season.

Cora has told all of them in exit interviews to prepare to start over the winter.

Roles will depend largely on what moves the Red Sox make this winter.

Crawford won’t worry about the variables that are beyond his control. But he was satisfied to take such a strong outing into the offseason.

“It's great,” Crawford said. “Probably one of my better outings on the year. It's great to kind of be in that position and take that momentum into the offseason.”