Garrett Crochet is on the mound against Jacob Misiorowski in Game 11 between the Brewers and Red Sox on April 6 at Fenway Park, and the cold night with wind blowing in from the northwest is threatening to make offense even harder to find.
The matchup puts one of the game’s hardest throwers in a park where the ball may not carry. Misiorowski is averaging 98.6 mph with his fastball, and the Red Sox have already adjusted their lineup around him, with Roman Anthony back at DH after another concerning throw from left field in the eighth inning the previous day and Jaren Duran returning after a day off. Willson Contreras is batting third, while Caleb Durbin and Masataka Yoshida are both out of the lineup, with Jacob Roy noting that Durbin and Yoshida are on the bench against Misiorowski.
The first ten games of the season did not resemble a flaming trainwreck, which is part of why this game is drawing attention now: it is early, but it already feels like the kind of April night that can tilt the shape of a series. The Red Sox also have to deal with a lineup decision that keeps changing from one day to the next, as Anthony moves back to DH and Duran slots in at No. 2 after sitting the day before.
That is the friction point in all of this. The Brewers are bringing a power arm that can change the terms of the night, and Boston is trying to answer with a lineup that is missing Durbin and Yoshida while facing a wind that is expected to suppress offense further. If Crochet can control the game, the Red Sox can keep this from becoming a pitcher’s showcase on someone else’s terms; if he cannot, Misiorowski’s velocity and the conditions at Fenway may do the rest.
