FORT MYERS, Fla. -- In his third start of Spring Training for his new team, Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet came out firing, as evidenced by multiple radar readings of 101 mph on the JetBlue Park scoreboard.

Boston’s home Spring Training park is not equipped with Statcast, but the club uses its own TrackMan device to measure velocity. Throughout Wednesday's 4-2 win against the Rays, the radar gun was a little jumpy, but that didn’t take away any of Crochet’s enthusiasm for his best outing thus far in Grapefruit League action.

“I think that was a misread. I was feeling good, and I know it was coming out well, but I don’t think it was that well,” said Crochet, who reached triple digits with four pitches all of last season.

While Crochet established himself as an All-Star in a breakout 2024 season with the White Sox and doesn’t need to prove anything in Boston’s camp, he was disappointed that he only got five outs in each of his first two starts.

His competitive side showed when asked by a media member how he felt after Wednesday’s three-inning, 44-pitch performance which included two hits, no runs, one walk and seven strikeouts.

“Better now,” Crochet said.

It stands to reason the Red Sox feel a lot better heading into this season than they did a year ago simply because they have a standout pitcher at the top of the rotation.

“He’s just a strong dude who knows his art, or his craft,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “He’s working hard with the pitching group to keep getting better. I think for him, last year was last year. He just got a taste of what it is to be a big league starter. And he's eager to get this going and give us 30 starts and then help us win.”

While Crochet was already built to have success when the December trade brought him to the Red Sox, he mentioned one tweak he’s made with his new coaches.

“Threw a couple gyros today, and those were good,” said Crochet.

Gyros? Crochet’s gyro is not to be confused with the gyroball that Daisuke Matsuzaka threw in Japan but never was able to throw when he came to the Major Leagues.

It turns out it is a term Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey uses for sliders that have violent dip to them.

“Yeah, it’s more of a downer,” said Crochet. “The cutter’s got some lateral [movement], but it’s similar velo to the cutter, but more depth. It's just a slider. I’m calling it a gyro because it's different than the sweeper. Just easier to differentiate the two.”

Crochet’s acclimation to the Red Sox has been seamless, and he said he felt it as soon as he attended the team’s Fenway Fest event in January.

“Right away, I felt like I belonged,” said Crochet. “I think that everyone is just getting along really well. The camaraderie is really good. Tons of communication from hitters and pitchers, and guys are really meshing well together. I feel like you don't get that too often at this point in the year. Guys tend to be in their own positional groups, just because that's how the schedule is laid out. But I feel like so far, there's been some good overlap.”

Knowing how important Crochet is to the team, not to mention that they’d like to sign him to an extension before he reaches free agency after the 2026 season, the Red Sox are doing all they can to make sure he is comfortable.

“I asked him today, ‘Are we providing everything you need pregame?’" Cora said. "He said, ‘Yeah, it’s been great.’ He’s having good conversations with the pitching department as far as scouting reports and all that stuff. So far, so good.”

One thing Crochet has this year that he didn’t have last year with a young White Sox team? Mentors in the rotation. Their names are Walker Buehler and Lucas Giolito.

“It’s been great, and different because I'm left-handed, but just hearing Walker talk about sequencing is great,” said Crochet. “My numbers don’t back it up, but I’ve always discussed being a crafty power arm. However you could do both, I'm not sure. But I think that just learning from him in terms of sequencing has been great so far. Very beneficial.”