Red Sox All-Star Just Passed Pedro Martinez In Boston Record Books

As the first half of the season concludes, performance reviews are tough to sort out for the Boston Red Sox.

Most of the first half was profoundly mediocre, with a sprinkling of turmoil surrounding the Rafael Devers trade. But now that Boston is on a 10-game winning streak and holding a playoff spot, the vibes are high at the All-Star break.

However, there's one player on the team who earns an easy "A," with no qualifiers about overcoming struggles at any point: new ace Garrett Crochet. He's been a godsend since arriving in a five-player blockbuster trade back in December.

Crochet was fantastic throughout his first 20 starts, but his most recent outing was his most sensational. For the first time in his career, the 26-year-old threw a complete game, and it happened to be a three-hit shutout against the division-rival Tampa Bay Rays.

According to ESPN's Paul Hembekides, the nine-strikeout performance against Tampa also vaulted Crochet into some incredibly rare air among Boston pitchers who got off to hot starts with the franchise, including passing Pedro Martinez in the strikeout category.

"Most K in first 20 games with Red Sox:

Chris Sale -- 200 (2.48 ERA)
GARRETT CROCHET -- 160 (2.23 ERA)
Pedro Martínez -- 156 (2.72 ERA)

Based on his WAR output, FanGraphs estimates he's already produced $34M in value," Hembekides wrote.

Crochet also leads Major League Baseball in strikeouts at the break, six ahead of his closest competitor (Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies).

Sale went on to strike out 308 batters in that incredible 2017 season, a number Crochet probably isn't reaching. But if the newest Boston ace can stay healthy for the rest of the season, the strikeout total doesn't have to be incredibly gaudy.

Crochet will enter uncharted territory soon--he's already thrown 129 1/3 innings, and his career-high is 146. So as much as he's already meant to this Boston team, he'll need to keep it up in the second half if the 53-45 Red Sox are going to get to the postseason.