The White Sox announced that left-hander Garrett Crochet has been reinstated from the injured list. Right-hander Nicholas Padilla was optioned in a corresponding move.
Crochet, 24 next month, will be pitching in the majors for the first time in about a year and a half once he makes his first appearance of the season. He required Tommy John surgery in early April of 2022, which wiped out that entire season for him and the early parts of 2023 as well.
Prior to that lost year, Crochet had quickly established himself as a viable major league arm. The Sox selected him 11th overall in the 2020 draft and added him to their 60-man player pool shortly thereafter, with the minor leagues having been canceled by the pandemic that year. He made his major league debut later in that campaign with five scoreless appearances in the regular season and another in the postseason. In 2021, he stuck in the big leagues and tossed 54 1/3 innings with a 2.82 ERA, 28.3% strikeout rate, 11.7% walk rate and 40.2% ground ball rate.
In the 2021-2022 offseason, the Sox seemed to give some consideration to stretching the lefty out as a starter, though those plans ended up getting pushed off the table by his surgery. It was reported in November that the club would keep him in a relief role in the 2023 season after the long layoff, with his health and performance this season perhaps dictating what role he will have in the future.
Going forward, it will be interesting to see if the Sox ever have any interest in reconsidering a move to the rotation. Both Lucas Giolito and Mike Clevinger are slated for free agency this winter, while the club has an $18MM club option on Lance Lynn with a $1MM buyout. With Lynn currently sporting a 7.51 ERA on the year, he’ll need a strong finish for the club to consider picking that up, meaning it’s possible three holes open up in that rotation next year. With only Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech currently lined up for jobs in 2024, there would have to be at least some temptation to give Crochet a shot at making the switch if they felt he were capable of it from a health and workload perspective.
For now, the Sox could use the extra southpaw in the bullpen after Jake Diekman posted a 7.94 ERA in 13 outings and was designated for assignment. Aaron Bummer is still with the big league club but has a 9.45 ERA so far this year. Sammy Peralta was with the Sox earlier this year but struggled in his one outing before getting optioned. Tanner Banks had a more palatable 3.38 ERA in his eight innings this year but struck out just 16.1% of opponents and also has been optioned to the minors.
Wonderful news! He alone won’t be enough to get the White Sox back to .500, but the fact that he’s going to be back on the field shows that Crochet worked really hard to return, and is healthy again.
Welcome back Crochet.
Give us doily updates!
Amazing!!!! Comment of the year!!
Since the article mentions him, I am guessing that Cleavinger’s option will get picked up. The difference in the option salary and the buyout is comparable to what he would still be worth on the open market- which is nuts to me, but that’s the current market for pitching.
When guys like Andrew Heaney can get a $12.5M guarantee off his previous performances… Cleavinger even with his 5th/6th starter qualities will still get $8M on the open market, so with that being the difference in the option and buyout… yup.
It’s a mutual option. He’ll be getting the buyout.
Great news wish him great season.However may be too late. Rays only need 60 wins to make playoffs, they have pitcher injuries and lots of prospects. Giolito a good target for them, Sox need to act now before someone else does. If the Sox trade a starter the pen will be busy I hope Garrett and crew can handle it.
It’s gotta be the worst bullpen in baseball. I’d rather the starters stay in for 150 pitches rather than give the ball to anyone in the pen. Hopefully Crochet will be a reliable arm.
If anyone is willing to give Hahn anything for Giolito I jump at that chance.. At this point I think that Hahn is just hoping for good enough of a good performance this season from this bunch to get something in return for any of them, but then I think about Hahn making those trades and Im not holding out hope there either.
Hahn is just looking for a good enough turn around this year where he can keep his job.
Aw, who am I kidding, Jerry rarely fires anyone that should be fired. Just the people he should keep.
Man, if LaRussa were only still manager, Crochet would be the perfect pitcher for him.
Don’t even joke about TLR’s two wasted seasons with the Sox.
True! It’s been so much better without him…..
Did LaRussa waste the Sox “potential.” Or did the Sox was two years of LaRussa’s retirement? Or does anyone even care?
Hopefully Crochet can weave some of his magic.
Ran into Garrett at the swap o Rama flee market on Ashland Ave a few weeks back. He was checking out the construction vests and work tee shirts. Just odd I thought for a millionaire to be looking at this kind of stuff. I was wearing my 1976 Bart Johnson # 24 jersey so he knew I was a fan of the Sox’s. Not sure but I think he was with Tyler Saladino. You heard it here first
Did Garrett and Tyler go through the record crates for Village People LPs afterwards?
By coincidence, Bart Johnson was the speaker at my 1976 Little League banquet. Dad didn’t care for baseball and wouldn’t stay for his speech though. So, I don’t know what he talked about.
Wow that’s interesting. Bart passed away way too soon. Had the potential for greatness. Was compared to Nolan Ryan. He stayed local long after his career ended. Hard to believe that he along with Terry Forster and Goose Gossage played together and came up through the minor leagues. Off topic , how is Tommy John not in the hall of fame ?
Can’t be feted at Cooperstown without attendin’.
Since Kaat got in, that bodes well for Tommy John. Might as well open the doors for Terry Forster, too. The fat tub of goo hit .397!
The White Sox really fell apart. This team for the last two years was expected to be great. All of that top prospect talent just hit a brick wall with injuries and underperforming. They still can figure it out but I think this core but I believe some trades are needed with this team. Maybe not a rebuild but a reload with some of the talent coming up.
Seeing Burger hitting like he is, is good, seeing Sheets do the same is better.. Seeing Vaughn leaving guys in scoring position? Ugh… It appears that after Roberts whole ‘playing while injured’ and ‘ not knowing the bench coach’s name’ flaps it sounds like Grifol (or someone) had a serious talk with him as he has been nails since those incidents. Moncada, not sure again if Grifol spoke to him as well before the season, seems to be playing to his perceived worth as well (sans the usual injuries). These two guys alone have a ton of potential and if they actually play to that, this team will be fun to watch.. At least until they are traded. However, this team has too many holes: The lineup (cannot drive runs in), the pitching staff (up and down, mostly down), and especially the standings (13(!) games under .500)… Never mind losing to dumpster teams like KC, and not keeping up with the good teams to at least split series with them. I just think that many of these guys are playing now to get to another team, and I would say ‘Great’ except Hahn is still the one making the trades, which is a bit depressing… Could this team flip the script and start playing a lot better ? Sure, but is it too little too late? Likely. Sure you can say ‘wait until next year’ but If you keep this bunch around it will likely be more of the same.