Chicago White Sox: 2021 grade for Garrett Crochet

The Chicago White Sox has a lot of good pitchers. Some will be on the move before 2022 but most will return and be better than ever. One White Sox pitcher that is extremely underrated is Garrett Crochet. He has as high of a ceiling as any player in the organization.

The White Sox drafted him in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft. Following that, he did something that is extremely rare for baseball players and that is play in the MLB during the same season. The COVID-19 pandemic had a lot to do with him getting that opportunity but he has sure taken advantage.

In 2021, he was even better as he started to grow into his role. Crochet is a natural starter but the White Sox have been easing him in as a reliever. He did that very well this season as he now looks like someone who is going to be a part of the team for a very long time.

He pitched in 54.1 innings for the Chicago White Sox this season. In those 54.1 innings, he had an ERA of 2.82 which is phenomenal. He also accumulated 65 strikeouts in the process. He has incredible stuff highlighted by his magnificent fastball. As his command increases over the years, he is going to be in great shape.

Michael Kopech is a great comparison for him. They don’t have a similar delivery or even throw with the same hand but their velocity and usage are similar. Both of them hit 100 miles per hour with their fastball and mix in some really good breaking stuff. It was for different reasons but they were both eased into the Majors in 2021 as well. Crochet is about a year of MLB progression behind Kopech.

Garrett Crochet was a very good pitcher for the Chicago White Sox in 2021.

2021 Final Grade: A

Garrett Crochet deserves nothing less than an A. He came into very strange MLB circumstances with absolutely no Minor League experience. He wasn’t perfect but he was very good and a lot of it came in high leverage situations. It was very rare that anything negative was his fault. The White Sox made a very good draft pick with him and he will be there for a long time.

2022 Outlook:

The White Sox are going to make Michael Kopech a starter. That is also the plan for Crochet but not in the year 2022. He is more than likely going to spend most of the year out of the bullpen again but he will surely see more innings. He also may have a spot start or two but most of his work should come in relief.

With Kopech out of the bullpen, there are going to be more people that are relied upon to step up in that role. Crochet is at the top of the list of people who can do that. It is a very important offseason for him as he tries to progress in his MLB career. So far, so good.