Red Sox Legend Pedro Martinez Has Eye-Opening Thoughts on New Boston Ace

First, Martinez touched upon what having a guy like Crochet meant to the Red Sox, and praised chief baseball officer Craig Breslow for getting him to be the foundation of what is quickly becoming a scary rotation.

"When I watched Crochet, I watched exactly what they did in ’98 (when I got here),” Martinez told MLB.com's Ian Browne. “There’s a guy that you can build a team around, and hopefully that's what Breslow and the rest of the organization will do -- build a team around a true ace and the rest of the staff can actually feed off what he does."

Then, Martinez compared Crochet favorably to himself, which is about as high as praise can get when considering how filthy the Dominican-born righty was in Boston at his peak.

“I think he’s probably got better stuff (than I did) when it comes to velo and stamina. He’s very consistent in staying right above 97 and 98 [mph],” Martinez said. “And a beautiful body to look at. You don't have to worry. He proved to everybody that all he needed was just to get a year under his belt, to get totally healthy, and he's been able to work his way around everything he needs to do, and he looks relatively fresh every time he pitches. That's amazing to see.

Most Red Sox fans probably don't need to be told at this point that Crochet, who finished second in Cy Young Award voting last year, is a rockstar.

But even if Martinez is a bit of a homer, seeing this sort of respect from a Hall of Famer lets you know that Crochet is good enough to join Martinez in Cooperstown someday, if he can only nail down the longevity aspect of things.