Chicago White Sox: Garrett Crochet’s pitching overlay is impressive
We have praised Chicago White Sox pitching a lot this season so far. There are great starters and bullpen arms that have helped them win a lot of baseball games. One of those arms is Garrett Crochet. This is a player that has a lot of talent and can be an impact player right now. That is relatively unique for a player in his shoes. Crochet was a first-round pick in the 2020 MLB Draft.
Most Major League Baseball draftees do not make it to the league for a few years. A lot of them take over a year to reach AAA if they are elite prospects. Crochet just jumped in right away. COVID-19 had a bit to do with that because there was no college or Minor League season in 2020 but he took advantage of the opportunity.
Garrett Crochet has a very bright future as a member of the Chicago White Sox.
Now, Crochet is a huge part of the White Sox. He hasn’t made any starts yet but his goal is to be a starting pitcher in this league. He is being eased in by being a part of the bullpen and he is very good at it. During that short 2020 season, he made five appearances and didn’t give up a single run over 6.0 innings.
It wasn’t a large sample size, but he left a lot of excitement behind. A large portion of the excitement comes from the fact that he can throw the ball 102 miles per hour and displayed it in his short 2020 stint. Coming into 2021, however, he wanted to become more of a pitcher instead of a thrower. He has a lot of the same traits/development needs as Michael Kopech.
Crochet’s velocity was down a little bit to start this 2021 season. At first, it wasn’t a concern but then he hit the 10-day IL. When he came back, he was as dominant as we remembered him from the year before. His numbers this year are still very good as he has a 0.84 ERA and 11 strikeouts over 10.2 innings in 10 appearances.
What is it that makes Crochet such a successful pitcher? Well, as mentioned before, he throws very hard. Last season, he touched triple digits on multiple occasions but this year his best fastballs have been hovering around 98 or 99. He also mixes it in with a very lethal breaking pitch. His slider is around 86 miles per hour and dances across the zone.
https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1392958222512922633
As you can see from Pitching Ninja‘s overlay of the two pitches, they look almost identical until the slider drops off. That is very hard for any hitter to pick up. When he gets these things done successfully, he has the potential to be one of the team’s best pitchers every single time he is out there.
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Everything that makes Michael Kopech great can also make Garrett Crochet great but from a lefty. The White Sox clearly sees a lot of potential in him and that is why they believe he was worth a first-round pick in the MLB draft. The video shows just how dominant he can be when he mixes his pitches well.