FORT MYERS, Fla. — It’s official. Garrett Crochet will be the Red Sox’s Opening Day starter.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced Friday morning that Crochet, Tanner Houck and Walker Buehler will pitch the club’s first three games to open the season in Texas. Cora said he informed Crochet earlier this week, and that Tanner Houck — the club’s top incumbent starter — took the news that he’d be the No. 2 guy well.

“Talked to Tanner, he was our best starter last year, he was an All-Star, and he just said give me the ball whenever,” Cora said.

Crochet earning the Opening Day nod was widely expected. Last season with the Chicago White Sox the big left-hander broke out as one of the top young pitchers in baseball, striking out 209 batters in only 146 innings in his first full year as a starter.

This winter the Red Sox acquired Crochet in a blockbuster trade in exchange for four prospects, including recent first-round picks Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery, and the expectation was the 25-year-old would immediately slot into the top of Boston’s rotation.

“His stuff is big, there’s a reason we got him here and we envision him as a true No. 1,” Cora said. “We truly believe that where we’re at as an organization and what he represents, it will be good for him to make the first pitch of the season.”

The Red Sox open the season on March 27 against the Texas Rangers in Arlington.