Criswell was called up from Triple-A Worcester to start Saturday's game against the Angels, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.
The 27-year-old righty came into the year with little fanfare after working as a multi-inning reliever in the majors last year for Tampa Bay. However, he has a 0.87 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 60 percent groundball rate through 10.1 innings (two starts) at Triple-A. The new Red Sox regime has gotten the best out of its starting pitchers in the early going, so perhaps Criswell can keep that trend going. Nick Pivetta (elbow) was expected to play catch Saturday and there's a chance he could return shortly after the 15-day minimum.