ARLINGTON, Texas — Of all the days in a White Sox season that was hopeless from the get-go, May 26 sticks out just a little bit. Look, it’s hard to distinguish one ignominious occurrence from all the others.
But on that Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field, Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet was electric against the mighty Orioles. He struck out six in three perfect innings his first time through the order and finished with 11 punch-outs in six innings. The only hitter who nailed him was All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman, with a two-run homer in the sixth that broke a scoreless tie. Crochet exited down 2-0 as the Sox’ feckless offense was being toyed with by Kyle Bradish, who threw seven no-hit innings in an Orioles win that completed a four-game sweep and sent the demoralized Sox further along in a losing streak that would reach 14 games.
It was clear the Sox’ awfulness could overcome anything, even a lights-out month for Crochet — five starts, four wins and a 0.93 ERA — that was his true big-league breakout. But it also was becoming apparent that Crochet, still a few weeks shy of his 25th birthday at the time, had a chance to be the Sox’ biggest bargaining chip before the July 30 trade deadline. With his lefty talent and contract status — he’s under club control through 2026 — he had “blockbuster” written all over him.
Crochet already was aware that all of baseball was paying attention. And as the deadline nears, the Orioles — leading the American League East but perilously thin in their starting rotation — happen to be one of several potential trade partners.
In case it means anything, Rutschman, the face of the franchise, is a Crochet fan.
“He is very talented,” the catcher said a day before an All-Star Game in which he and Crochet would be teammates. “A good pitcher, tough to hit. Yep.”
Yep, indeed. It’s easy to go online these days and find rankings of players who could be moved at the deadline that have Crochet at the very top — above Tigers All-Star pitcher Tarik Skubal, Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. and everyone else. It’s no wonder every national media outlet is speculating about where Crochet might go.
“Yeah, I see it. I hear it,” Crochet said. “I watch TV. I have an iPhone.”
According to Crochet, the Sox front office has kept him up to date with a few “brief conversations.” Otherwise, the major league strikeout leader (150) — who advocated for himself with general manager Chris Getz heading into spring training, wanting to make the move from reliever to starter — is trying to keep his head down. It’s not so easy at a gathering like this.
“Having earned that job and now to be sitting here, it’s a really special feeling,” Crochet said, “one I haven’t been able to wrap my head around yet, to be honest. I think it will take the season ending, looking back at what I was able to accomplish to truly feel the weight of it.”
With the Sox headed for a staggering total of losses — they’re on pace for 117 — Crochet is enjoying his own success quietly.
Garrett Crochet on what he wants and if the #WhiteSox are speaking language pic.twitter.com/TscRAJwogm
— Steve Greenberg (@SLGreenberg) July 15, 2024
“I understand [I’m] the positive story,” he said, “but it’s just tough because we’re having the season that we’re having. All I can do is focus on doing my job.”
What the job will entail from here — whichever team he’s on — is in question with Crochet already past the 100-innings mark for the first time in his career. There is “no uniform concept” to how the Sox might limit his use out of the All-Star break, he said.
But he isn’t betting against his ability to take his starting turns on schedule all the way into October if he ends up on a playoff team.
“Right now, with the way my body’s been feeling and responding to the five-day routine, I think anything’s possible,” he said.
Another All-Star catcher, the Dodgers’ Will Smith, remembers in impressive detail his at-bats in June against Crochet, who pitched 5⅔ scoreless innings for a no-decision in — surprise — a shutout loss for the Sox. Smith’s third look at Crochet ended in a 3-2 strikeout on a nasty cutter. Crochet also struck out Smith in relief in their first and only matchup, in 2023, before that game.
Crochet has been linked to the Dodgers, too, which Smith called “a great addition” if it happens.
“Man, he’s good,” Smith said. “He throws the ball hard, a big lefty, fastball, cutter, slider, all of it. Yeah, he’s good — a really tough at-bat.”
The personal success has been wonderful, but Crochet wants more than that and isn’t opposed a bit to seizing the chance now.
“I think that’s everybody’s dream, and myself included, to go win a World Series,” he said. “I think that’s really the end goal with my career. When all is said and done, I think it would be great to have a ring to go along with it.”
