If someone had told me on June 10 the pitcher the Chicago White Sox selected in the first round would appear in the Wild Card Series for the Sox in 2020, I would take a big sigh of relief in knowing the Sox would make the playoffs.
Then I would rethink the situation and question the legitimacy of this fortune teller, wondering why in the world would the Sox throw a rookie with only college experience into that situation.
Evidently, the unlikely happened.
White Sox jumped Garrett Crochet straight to the bigs
Exactly 100 days after being drafted, Garrett Crochet suited up in the black and gray for the first time, skipping the minor leagues altogether.
Of course under different circumstances there would have been a minor league for him to report to, but an unpredictable year resulted in his debut being at the big-league level and his first professional season ended with a postseason appearance.
Today, the White Sox have their minor league affiliates back and those teams will have a season this year. Now the question is whether Crochet is ready to stay in the majors? He did have a solid start, showing glimpse of what could be a great career, but a huge part of this question relies on his spring training performance. A poor one might change potential plans.
It makes sense to start a prospect in the minor leagues, but he is not like other prospects and he has proven to be able to impact a game and help the team win. With that in mind, here are a few roles Crochet can slide into in the 2021 season, in no particular order of possibility.