Jake Bennett has done enough this season to look like a useful stand-in for Garrett Crochet, but the Red Sox may be reaching the point where usefulness is no longer enough. As October gets closer, Bennett’s grip on a playoff rotation spot looks shakier by the start.
The 25-year-old rookie opened the year with a 2.64 ERA in the first half, and he did it without leaning heavily on the strikeout to get there. That made him look, in a lot of ways, like a Crochet imitation for a Boston staff that needed one.
But the recent stretch has changed the picture. Since August 1, Bennett has made seven starts and put up a 5.26 ERA.
His last three outings tell the story in sharp swings. On August 29, he blanked the New York Yankees over six innings and gave up only three hits.
Five days later against the Baltimore Orioles, he again went six innings, though this time he allowed three runs. Those two starts sat on opposite sides of the line for what a playoff starter needs to look like.
The Orioles outing also hinted at a bigger problem. Bennett gave up two homers in that game, and the next start made the warning signs impossible to ignore.
On September 9 against the Los Angeles Angels, he was hit for six earned runs in 5 1/3 innings. He allowed three home runs, and eight balls were struck at 100 miles per hour or harder.
His average exit velocity in the start was 95.6 miles per hour.
While Bennett has been sliding, Ranger Suarez may be finding himself again. Suarez had a rough August after returning from the groin issue that sent him to the IL in July, finishing the month with a 5.70 ERA. But his lone September start looked much more like the version Boston expected, as he threw seven shutout innings, allowed just five hits and a walk, and kept the ball on the ground with a lot of soft contact.
One outing does not wipe away the uneven stretch that came before it, but Suarez’s track record still carries weight. He earned the second All-Star nod of his career because of what he did in the first half, and it is fair to think the August struggles were tied to shaking off rust after the injury layoff.
Bennett also has a workload issue hanging over him. He has already logged 105 major league innings and another 39 1/3 for the WooSox.
That is a heavy load for a pitcher who threw 63 innings in his first minor league season back in 2023, missed all of 2024 after Tommy John surgery, and then came back to throw 75 1/3 innings last season. His 144 1/3 combined innings this year are more than the 138 1/3 innings he totaled over the previous three seasons combined.
Bennett can insist the added workload has not affected him, but the recent results suggest otherwise.
If the decision comes down to a close call, Suarez has a couple of edges. The Red Sox gave him $130 million over the winter, and while a contract should not hand anyone a job, it can matter when two options are otherwise in the same lane.
More important than the money is the October résumé. Suarez has thrown 42 2/3 playoff innings with the Phillies and owns a 1.48 postseason ERA.
That kind of experience - and that kind of production - carries real value when the other choice looks like a pitcher who may be running out of steam.
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