Hours after USA Today’s Bob Nightengale dropped a bomb that the White Sox were intending to trade Garrett Crochet, the 6’6” left-hander took the mound for his 18th start of the season.
Nightengale’s report isn’t the first trade rumor that Crochet has been involved in, but it’s certainly the loudest. Crochet’s name has been floated as a possible trade candidate for weeks but the 25-year-old hadn’t let the outside noise affect his performance. He remained unphased once again on Sunday.
Crochet carved up the Colorado Rockies lineup, striking out 11 and allowing just two runs on five hits with no walks. The two runs were earned but came after soft contact and bad luck. He allowed back-to-back singles to open the second inning after Ryan McMahon beat the sift with a routine ground ball, and Elias Diaz got a 64 mph grounder that traveled just 43 feet to roll past Andrew Vaughn. McMahon would come around to score on a balk while Diaz later crossed home on a sac fly.
It was a start where Crochet could not afford a lot of traffic on the basepaths. The White Sox had previously stated that they were going to begin to ramp down Crochet’s workload. On Sunday his pitch limit was set around 90 pitches. But despite it being just his first season as a starter, Crochet responded like a veteran limiting the damage and continuing to pepper the zone with strikes.
As he sat stood in the dugout after the sixth inning White Sox manager Pedro Grifol told him he only had roughly 10 pitches to work with in the seventh inning before his work was done for the day. That was more than enough for Crochet. In just five pitches he recorded a 1-2-3 inning. His quick work of the Rockies lineup was fitting considering it was NASCAR day at Guaranteed Rate Field. To get through seven innings he needed just 88 pitches, 69 of which were thrown for strikes. His 24 whiffs tied his season high for a start.
It’s easy to see why he is a hot commodity. Crochet is not only pitching like an ace, he is arguably the best pitcher in baseball. His 141 strikeouts are the most in the MLB, his 3.02 ERA is the seventh best in the American League while his 2.38 expected ERA ranks in the MLB’s 98th percentile. He also only has a 5% walk rate while producing a 33.3% whiff rate.
Crochet previously told NBC Sports Chicago’s Chuck Garfein that he considered the rumors a “compliment” but stated that he would like to remain with the team that drafted him to be one of the guys who helps the White Sox return to playoff contention.
According to Nightengale the White Sox “quietly engaged in brief contract extension talks” with Crochet. However, after failing to reach an agreement the team no longer feels optimistic they will be able to extend him. If Crochet is traded it will be a huge gut punch for a large portion of the fan base. But fans aren’t the only ones who have enjoyed watching Crochet.
“The ball just explodes out of his hand,” Vaughn told reporters after the game. “It’s honestly fun to watch playing baseball behind him. It’s so special.”
His outing every fifth game has been one of the few things worth tuning into when the 2024 White Sox take the field. With each start, Crochet has continued to gain confidence. He finished the month of June with a 5-2 record, 1.63 ERA, .181 opponent batting average, 6 walks, and 56 strikeouts. If the White Sox do trade Crochet, whoever acquires him is adding a bonafide ace. However, White Sox color commentator Steve Stone isn’t convinced that the team will move him.
“We never know for sure, I just don’t think he’s going anywhere,” Stone said on the television broadcast. “I think that the uniform he’s wearing is the uniform that he will wear for a while, and he’ll wear it proudly.”
