In the disaster that was the 2024 season for the White Sox, there were still some individual players that had good seasons. The player that had the best of them, was Garrett Crochet, and now he may get some national recognition.
Today, the MLBPA announced the finalists for their end of season awards. Garrett Crochet was one of the names on the list, as he was listed as a finalist for the Comeback Player of the Year award.
Crochet will look to be the third White Sox player to win the award, as Liam Hendriks won the award in 2023, and Jim Thome won the award in 2006. Chris Sale is also nominated for the NL comeback player of the year award, so there could be a White Sox and former White Sox sweep, as Chris Sale is likely to win the NL version of the award.
In the AL, Crochet’s prospects look very good, as he is up against Chad Green and Tyler O’Niell. While both Green and O’Niell had good seasons, Crochet has significantly more war than both of them. According to Baseball Reference, on the season, Green accumulated .7 WAR, while O’Niell accumulated 2.7 WAR. Crochet on the other hand, finished with 4.1 WAR, all while on an innings limit. This is important, as WAR is a cumulative stat.
While Green is a reliever and O’Niell is an outfielder, it is hard to determine who had the best season, as they play different positions. WAR is a good way to interpret that, as it tries to level the playing field regardless of the position of a player.
Crochet finished the season with a 3.58 ERA in 146 innings. He struck out 209 batters in that timeframe, ranking him 7th among all major leaguers. Considering he only pitched 146 innings, that is very impressive.
It is likely that Crochet takes home this award, but you never know. The official winners will be announced right before the second World Series game, so we will find out in a few days whether or not Crochet will make the White Sox back to back winners of this award.
