White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet left the team’s Game 3 wild-card round loss to the Athletics on Oct. 1, though it wasn’t clear why his season came to a premature end. It turns out that Crochet suffered a flexor strain, general manager Rick Hahn revealed Monday (via James Fegan of The Athletic). While flexor strains often lead to Tommy John surgery, Crochet avoided damage to his ulnar collateral ligament, per Hahn. Chicago expects him to be ready for spring training.
Meanwhile, second baseman Nick Madrigal – another of Chicago’s key young players – underwent surgery on his left shoulder, Scott Merkin of MLB.com relays. Madrigal will require five to six months to recover, which could jeopardize his chances of being at full strength when the spring comes.
This news is a mixed bag for the White Sox, though it’s clearly a relief that Crochet seems to have dodged an especially serious injury. The 21-year-old was the 11th overall pick in this year’s draft, and he wasted little time making a significant impact in the bigs. After the White Sox promoted him in September, Crochet used his blazing fastball to throw six scoreless regular-season innings with eight strikeouts and no walks. Crochet then struck out both batters he faced in his playoff debut before walking off the mound in what proved to be a season-ending defeat for the White Sox.
The 23-year-old Madrigal had a highly effective rookie campaign in his own right, as he slashed .340/.376/.369 in 109 plate appearances. But Madrigal’s shoulder, which he separated Aug. 5, shelved him for almost a month. The hope now is that he’ll be ready when the 2021 season opens.
As a life-long Sox fan I can honestly say today feels like the REAL beginning of a new White Sox franchise.
I am very excited
@SHAMROCKYOASS60803
Amen to that.
Ngl crochet is due for TJ at some point
You are probably right about Crochet. In the meantime, hope he continues as an electric BP arm instead of forcing the issue to make him a starter.
The day they took Crochet, the MLB commenters stated that there were questions about the health of his arm. This should surprise no one.
he’s only thrown 6.2 innings of pro ball so far. (including playoffs) I think writing him off as a starter so early is a bit rash. and we can’t assume making him a BP arm will save his arm either.
Maybe, but it took years for it to become an issue with Sale. I agree with cwsAscension, though, in that I think his future is as a late-inning arm, maybe even closer in a year or two. That could keep him healthier a lot longer.
More of a reason to keep Yolmer this time around, and keep Leury too
Luery yes, Yolmer no, he can’t hit. There’s a reason they chose not to resign him and that’s it. Mendick hits better and he’s a solid infielder.
A big reason Yolmer wasn’t re-signed was because his arb salary would have been like $6M, and he definitely wasn’t worth that.
At $1M or so, he’s useful, especially on a 28-man roster. Hell, he had more HRs and as many double as Madrigal in 16 ABs (compared to Nick’s 103). But he probably doesn’t make the cut with a 26-man roster.
They need the retain the versatility of Engel, Garcia and Sanchez, unless they upgrade the three over the winter.
Chisox should be lookin for a 3B also.
@Dogbone
LOL
What’s the matter, not sold on Moncada? Yes, make sure you use his stats this year as the measuring stick to his career. Just like you use one bad game to judge Grandal’s “lack of defense”, even though he’s regarded as one of the best defensive catchers in the game.
As always, great analysis, Dogbone.
We need Madrigal to be the heir to Altuve’s short second baseman throne now. I love how much contact Madrigal makes on pitches out of the zone, and he’s a good overall player too. Love that guy.
And, that’s some good news for Crochet, but it sounds like he won’t be able to do much work this off-season.
I was hoping Madrigal would be able to hit the gym and add about 10lbs of muscle. Make some of those line drives into gappers, put a little more pop on grounders through the infield. Unfortunately, that’s not going to happen. Still, he has some of the best bat-to-ball skills I’ve seen in years. If he can learn to take a walk more, he’ll be a really good player, though probably not to Altuve’s level.
I mean just the “Little engine that could” type player. Altuve was that guy, but because of the scandal, he can get off his throne.
My only concern with him is not turning into a singles depndent Juan Pierre but his eye is just so good
Except that Juan Pierre ran. Madrigal doesn’t run. He’s just a slappy at this point. Plenty of time to change his game though.
@shamro. Not sure why you say ‘turning him INTO a singles hitting Juan Pierre’.
Your not turning him into that. That is what he is, without the speed.
@Dogbone
Yes, because at 23, it’s way too late for him to hit the gym so he can develop some power in his prime years. And who cares if he does end up as primarily a singles hitter. If he can hit anywhere from .310 to .330+ each year and they’re almost all singles, that’s still good hitting.
People need to be reminded that he’s not penciled in as the cleanup hitter. If you can get well over .300 from your 9th hitter, you’re doing pretty well as an offense.
I wouldn’t expect him to ever walk much, simply because of the bat-to-ball skills he has. He seriously lines balls up the middle and to right that are out of the strike zone up, and without fouling many pitches off.
i mean the low K rate alone gives him a good BB-K rate. He was 44-16 in his one full pro season after all. Obviously 44 BBs isnt amazing, but with a low K and high bat-ball rate that’s just gravy really.
Madrigal is entertaining because he defies all odds maintaining his batting average and contact rate…. unfortunately, at some point he is going to slump… and when that happens he will need to take a demotion…. I am not impressed with his defense… I think he’s fine, but not overly impressive (especially with a weak arm)…. his style just leaves very little room for error because without an exceptional batting average he contributes very little…. if he can develop 15-20 HR power, he immediately becomes an All-Star and potential MVP candidate…. he has certainly shown zero signs that will be the case to this point…. a lack of off-season to concentrate on improving his strength hurts
Didn’t Madigril hit over 300 after he was called up? Pretty sure he did.
He also hit over 300 at every level of the minor leagues and in college…. there are very few players that manage that type of consistency at MLB over the duration of a career…. I expect him to slump at some point…. or maybe he’s special?
I’m still gonna hold my breath with Crochet. Not a Sox fan but as a fan of baseball I want him healthy and out there. Good luck in the off-season
Thanks. He was much better than I thought he’d be, having had no MiLB experience and only a limited track record in college. That arm is something else. Way too early to start throwing around comps, but it’s not hard to envision him as their closer in 2022.
I still think I’d rather see him develop into a starter. Crazy rotation mid-next year if Kopech pitches that way I expect him to. Not sure if Cease will ever take that next step, but if he does you would have 3/4/5 in the rotation at some point all throwing between 98 and 100. I know, big stretch and it assumes Dunning isn’t 1 of them, but still fun to think about.
to be fair, no harm going the Sale route as they have followed it with him so far. Perhaps a few years in the pen buys the arm some time down the road like it might have for Sale.
Given his injury, if Crochet ever makes a real impact it will be a bonus. You can’t count on him or on Kopech, nor, certainly, on Rodon. The new Sox pitching coach will start with a rotation of Giolito and Keuchel, with Cease and Dunning as probables. Hahn will have to find a fifth starter and others for depth.
@realsox
TJS (or in this case, the threat of) isn’t a death sentence for a pitcher anymore. Obviously it’s not the ideal situation, but it’s not the end of his career by any means either.
I wonder if Garrett knows how to crochet. I’d subscribe.
I’d say good news on Crochet, but part of me wishes he would just go ahead with the TJS. The Dunning situation keeps popping in my head.
Apparently Hahn had a lot to get off his chest today.
Assuming the arm holds up over the offseason, I like the idea of using Crochet out of the bullpen in 2021, but trying to get him into some long relief situations to build him up (and see how he does) for a potentia starting job in 2022. The other alternative would be to send him to the minors as a starter for some/all of 2021, and I’d prefer to keep him at the MLB level based on his performance so far, limited as it was.
I have no faith in this team evaluating arm injuries, given the number of TJS in the past few years.
But if there is no ligament damage, maybe it can be managed. But this should put an end to any immediate plans for him to start.
I think it was time to move Rick and Copper, they couldn’t get it done. Poor pitching changes, poor batting line ups. With all these young rookies and vets……no production from dh, right field, little offense from 3rd base, 2nd base, center field , TA, love him but, cannot drive in runs with men on base. 2021.. need solid starting pitching…..Cease, Kopech, Dunning, Rodon have proved nothing. Wishful thinking……but I just don’t see Sox being an elite team. Am hoping I am wrong.