Boston and Cincinnati’s baseball teams have more in common than just the color red — they’re both expecting to take a step forward in 2026 after Wild Card exits last fall.
The Reds — thanks to a Mets meltdown — made an improbable, last-minute run to squeak into the postseason by winning eight of their last 11 games.
They were squashed by the Dodgers in a two-game sweep where they relinquished 18 runs.
The Red Sox finished third in the AL East on the back of a masterful season from ace Garret Crochet, who gets the ball to kick off 2026 in Cincinnati on Thursday.
He was brilliant in the Red Sox’s Game 1 victory over the Yankees, striking out 11 and giving only one earned run, but Boston collapsed in the following two games.
Crochet opened as the second favorite to win the AL Cy Young at 4/1 odds after delivering a career-high 205 ⅓ innings and 255 strikeouts, which led all of MLB.
Speaking of red, if you navigate to Crochet’s Statcast page, you’ll find lots of it — from chase rate to strikeout percentage and xERA, he ranked within the 90th percentile.
In pitching run value, he lived within the very top percentile of major league pitchers.
On Thursday, he’ll draw a Reds lineup that hasn’t changed much since finishing as a top-10 club in strikeouts. The Reds were plagued with some serious issues with posting consistent runs and excelling in situational hitting.
This is a top-heavy Cincinnati lineup. It’s dependent on Elly De La Cruz’s performance at the plate. He started last season off on fire before injuries and fatigue caused him regression.
They reunited with Eugenio Suárez to take some of that pressure off of De La Cruz with power, and rookie Sal Stewart will draw a fair share of eyes as the club’s top prospect.
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This is Crochet’s third career start against Cincinnati in as many seasons. He hit 10 strikeouts in 2024 as a member of the woeful White Sox. Last year, Crochet had a rocky ride against the Reds, letting up five runs in six innings of work, but he still managed to fan nine hitters and earn the win.
He hurled seven strikeouts in 19 of his 32 starts and pitched less than five innings only once. That’s plenty of runway for one of the game’s best flamethrowers to hit this number with the zeal of Opening Day behind him.
THE PLAY: Garrett Crochet Over 7.5 Strikeouts (-108, FanDuel)
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Sean Treppedi handicaps the NFL, NHL, MLB and college football for the New York Post. He primarily focuses on picks that reflect market value while tracking trends to mitigate risk.