After working all offseason to earn a spot in the White Sox starting rotation, Garrett Crochet wasn’t interested in going three to four innings and handing things off to the bullpen like many expected him to do on Opening Day. In fact, after tossing six innings of one-run ball against the Tigers he wanted to go out and pitch the seventh inning.
It was an idea that White Sox manager Pedro Grifol shot down out of caution for his first-year starter. But on Tuesday Grifol decided to let Crochet venture into the seventh inning. When Crochet walked back to the dugout he had set a new franchise record for the most strikeouts by a White Sox pitcher over his first two career starts.
There were a lot of questions surrounding Crochet’s second career start to see if he could replicate his Opening Day success. Dominating against the Tigers is one thing, being able to replicate that performance against an Atlanta Braves lineup that featured seven All-Stars is another. Crochet proved he was up to the task. The southpaw went seven innings, allowing just one run on three hits while striking out eight and walking one.
Crochet’s mentality on the mound has been one of the most impressive things about the first two starts of his career. No matter the opponent he attacks the hitter. He opened the game by challenging reigning NL MVP Ronald Acuña Jr. with four straight fastballs averaging 97 mph. After getting ahead 1-2 in the count he made Acuña Jr. look foolish chasing a low 84 mph slider. That confidence in his stuff is one of the seasons he has been so efficient on the mound. The hard-throwing left-hander threw 63 of his 93 pitches for strikes. Of the 21 batters he faced, he threw a first-pitch strike to 18 of them.
When Crochet had two strikes in the count against the Braves it only took him an average of 2.3 pitches to finish off the batter for a strikeout. During his Opening Day start he averaged just 2.1 pitches to record a strikeout when he got two strikes in the count. Having this type of conviction in his stuff is something we haven’t seen from many White Sox starters so early in their career. Dylan Cease had arguably the best stuff on the White Sox pitching staff over the last several years but often struggled with nibbling around the corners when he got ahead in the count.
Crochet with the ⛽️ pic.twitter.com/cSsWu8sE3I
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) April 3, 2024
Another key to his success is that he can throw every pitch from around the same arm slot. Hitting a 98 mph fastball is tough enough. Trying to determine if it is going to have a late break on it is even tougher when it looks the same coming out of the opposing pitcher’s hand.
On a cold and rainy April day, an upper 90s fastball was the weapon of choice for Crochet. He threw it 54 times against the Braves, mixing in 23 sliders, 14 cutters, and a pair of changeups. The 93 pitches marked a new career high. He tallied a total of 18 swings and misses on the day. Matt Olson represented the 18th and final whiff against Crochet when he chased a low cutter in the seventh inning to become his eighth strikeout victim.
Crochet has now racked up 16 strikeouts on the year, passing Dane Dunning’s (2020) and Hector Santigao’s (2012) previous high-water mark of 14, for the franchise record of most punchouts over his first two career starts. During that stretch, he has allowed just two earned runs, eight hits, one home run, and one walk over 13 innings.
“That starter was really good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said during his postgame presser on Tuesday. “You’re not going to see much better than that over the course of the summer.”
There are some striking similarities to Chris Sale. Both pitchers were rushed to the majors out of college. Each southpaw began their career in the bullpen. And each pitcher is a hard-throwing left-hander with a devastating slider. Unlike Sale, Crochet has already undergone Tommy John surgery before becoming a starter which bodes well for his long-term success. It’s still early and growing pains are expected but Crochet is not only showing he belongs in a big league rotation, he is proving he can be the ace of one.
