Garrett Crochet, Tarik Skubal Trade Shutouts in 2025 Cy Young Sequel

Garrett Crochet, Tarik Skubal Trade Shutouts in 2025 Cy Young Sequel originally appeared on NESN . Add NESN as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The 2026 American League Cy Young race officially reignited on Thursday, and it took less than nine innings for Garrett Crochet and Tarik Skubal to remind the baseball world why they are the two most feared left-handers on the planet.

In the 2025 season, the award circuit was defined by a polarizing debate between Crochet's raw dominance and Skubal's surgical consistency. While Crochet put together a season for the ages, leading the majors with 255 strikeouts and logging more than 200 innings, he ultimately finished as the runner-up to Skubal, whose 2. 21 ERA and 0.

89 WHIP proved too efficient for voters to ignore. Both pitchers made Opening Day starts on Thursday, and unsurprisingly, they dominated their opponents. In Cincinnati, Crochet took the mound for the Red Sox looking less like a man seeking redemption and more like one intent on total conquest.

Making his second consecutive Opening Day start for Boston, the towering southpaw silenced a raucous Great American Ball Park crowd with six masterful, scoreless frames. Armed with a triple-digit heater and newly refined changeup that moved with the violence of a splitter, Crochet fanned eight Reds and allowed just three hits while also picking up the win. Crochet's afternoon was defined by a high-leverage escape in the sixth inning.