How Garrett Crochet’s future with the Chicago White Sox changes with Grady Sizemore

This year has been nothing short of unkind to the Chicago White Sox.

They were eliminated on Aug. 17 from playoff contention, the earliest in MLB’s Divisional Era beginning in 1969, and are the worst team in baseball. And it’s not even close.

Despite the hardship this team has faced, two faces show a glimmer of hope for the team--starting pitcher Garrett Crochet and interim manager Grady Sizemore. 

Crochet has been the only constant, shining light for the Chicago White Sox this season. He has a 3.64 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, and merely 31 BBs over 128 innings, holding hitters to a .219 AVG.

Outside of two outlier performances in April and one in August, Crochet’s control has limited opponents to no more than three earned runs per start. He ranks fifth in the league with 180 strikeouts and sixth in the league with 5.806 strikeouts per walk (SO/BB).

In July, baseball fans speculated Crochet would be traded at the deadline. On Aug. 16, Ken Rosenthal reported that both the Dodgers and Phillies made compelling offers, with the Dodgers showing strong interest in Crochet up until the final minutes.

But neither Los Angeles nor Philadelphia wanted to give up top prospects. With the situation complicated further by Crochet’s requirement of a contract extension to pitch in the postseason, it’s no surprise that the 25-year-old lefty wasn’t dealt.

Up until early August, not trading Crochet appeared to be a major mistake. Crochet would likely continue to pitch his heart out for a team that was slowly towards setting a MLB record of 22 straight losses. And then, when he hit free agency, he’d leave Chicago and the Sox would get nothing in return. 

But then everything changed.

The Sox fired Pedro Grifol and named Grady Sizemore, a three-time All-Star, a two-time Gold Glove Award player, and Silver Slugger winner for Cleveland, as the interim manager.

And despite having no managerial experience, the Sox have won three games under Sizemore - the same number of wins the team had in the month of July. 

Sizemore doesn’t have managing experience until the Sox, but he can connect with the players. In 2017 he served as a special advisor to player development in Cleveland, and then in 2023 he interned Arizona’s organization and worked under former teammate Josh Barfield, director of player development.

During his time working in the player development departments, Sizemore saw two ball clubs make it to the postseason. This experience, arguably, is a primary factor in Sizemore adding life back into this team. 

So what does all this mean? Why should we still watch Crochet and Sizemore for the remainder of the season?

With Sizemore’s revival of the dead-on-arrival attitude the Sox brought with Grifol, it’s clear that Crochet needs to be kept while he remains under Sox control. If Crochet was an All-Star under Grifol, then his ceiling would be much higher with a manager who knows how to interact with players, whether it’s Sizemore or another manager with clubhouse experience.

The Sox should pick up Crochet’s arbitration for 2025 and 2026, which is estimated to cost between $10-$15M. Otherwise, the Sox may find themselves in an even tougher position if they have to rebuild with only outfielder Luis Robert Jr. to build around.