Garrett Crochet reacts to taking a line drive off his nose

During the fourth inning of Sunday's outing against the Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox ace starting pitcher Garrett Crochet was grazed by an 86.7 mph line drive off the bat of Carlos Correa. Crochet seemingly avoided near catastrophe by the ball that nicked his nose, but he was luckily able to get mostly out of the way.

"Fine. It barely grazed me. I was more shaken up at [the] initial impact than anything," Crochet said about how he was after the scary moment. "I immediately just [went] to touch my nose to see if it felt normal, but it was like numb at first just from the initial impact, but it's fine."

Unfazed, Crochet remained on the mound through the fifth inning, faced eight batters after the incident, and even struck out the next batter immediately after. Which, was quite the showing of toughness from the Sox' No. 1.

He ended the afternoon allowing four hits, one earned run (a home run), and two walks in five innings. He notched six strikeouts. Overall, another decently strong outing on the bump for the lefty.

After the game, Crochet did tell reporters that there was "just a little bit" of blood coming from his nose after being hit but "not very much at all." Nonetheless, his ability to stay in the game and still pitch at a high level is impressive.

The Red Sox did end up losing to the Twins 5-4, but it was certainly not Crochet's fault. He had them in the lead 3-1. The Red Sox' bullpen conceded the lead by allowing two runs in both the seventh and eighth innings.

Crochet has been the reliable ace that the Sox had hoped for when they brought him in, so they should consider themselves lucky that he avoided that ball for the most part and is not looking at a severe injury. Plus, credit to Crochet for his resilience and not letting that moment impact his play.

Luke Graham is a digital sports content co-op for 98.5 the Sports Hub. He is currently a sophomore at Northeastern University studying communications and media studies. Read all his articles here, and follow him on X @LukeGraham05.