Kutter Crawford

Crawford was one of the bright spots amidst a rocky season for the Red Sox' starting pitchers. It took until June for the right-hander to find a permanent spot in the rotation, but once that happened he posted a 4.20 ERA (3.64 FIP), 1.15 WHIP and 105:30 K:BB over 98.2 innings covering 21 starts the rest of the way. Crawford has one of the most effective four-seamers in baseball, an offering with elite spin which produced a 26 percent whiff rate. The 27-year-old's arsenal is also deep, with five additional pitches which all induced whiffs at at least a 20 percent rate. Crawford is a flyball pitcher who can be homer-prone at times, but he should have a spot in Boston's rotation locked up heading into 2024 and his arrow is pointing up.

Crawford throws the kitchen sink at hitters, which yes, includes a cutter. He lacks the pure stuff of some of the arms in the system, but he will take the ball as a reliever or as a starter as he is just happy to be part of the team and good lord willing, he can help the team win one game at a time. All cliches aside, his numbers are fascinating in that his four-seam fastball had an actual batting average against of .316, but the xBA was 69 points lower and the pitch had a 26% Whiff rate to it. He started using a slider last season as he worked to reduce the usage of his meh curveball, and that is something to watch as the pitch debuted nicely with a 42% whiff rate with a .174 xBA as he used it exclusively against righties. The larger problem has been his attack versus lefties has not gone well as the league lefties hit .275/.367/.600 against him last season. If those splits cannot get better, Crawford's fantasy value could come as a swing man in a bullpen backing up a health-risk riddled rotation.