Even with Craig Kimbrel’s departure, the White Sox bullpen figured to be a strength of the team in 2022. The unit took a major hit on Friday afternoon when Rick Hahn announced that Garrett Crochet may need to undergo season-ending Tommy John surgery.
Crochet is set to get a second opinion but the early signs do not look positive. He left Thursday night’s Cactus League game against the Cincinnati Reds early. Initially, he looked sharp, striking out Sebastian Almonte. However, after falling behind 3-1 to the next hitter he called for a trainer. Moments later he walked off the mound.
“The preliminary MRI reading is not reading great,” Rick Hahn told reporters on Friday. “There appears to be some damage to the ligament, which very likely will require Tommy John surgery. That said, this is again preliminary, and he is going to seek out a second opinion here in the coming days. Being above board with everything along these lines, the prognosis at this time is not great.”
Crochet was one of the White Sox’s bright spots out of the bullpen last season. The hard-throwing left-hander posted a 2.82 ERA and struck out hitters at an effective 10.8 per nine inning clip.
Crochet burst onto the scene in 2020. Just weeks after being selected 11th overall in the MLB draft, the White Sox broke the emergency glass and brought him up from the alternate training site. He proceeded to have a perfect 0.00 ERA in five appearances and trailed only Brusdar Graterol of the Dodgers for the most pitches at 100 mph or above.
Crochet figured to play a key role on the White Sox pitching staff in 2022. With Micheal Kopech moving into the starting rotation, Crochet figured to be the new starter/reliever hybrid. Crochet projects to be a starter in the future, which is what the White Sox envisioned when they drafted him. During doubleheaders and spot starts, Crochet figured to get the ball.
He is also a versatile reliever. Tony La Russa used him in every situation imaginable and he excelled. Crochet can throw in high leverage situations, serve as a left-handed specialist, eat up innings as a middle reliever and help bridge the gap to the ninth inning as a setup man.
Not only will the White Sox be losing a versatile option out of the bullpen it also hampers his future development. He will likely undergo surgery and miss the entire 2022 season. The only silver lining is that he should be in line to pitch again in 2023.
“If you want to take the glass half full side of things, at least from a timing standpoint with regards to any Tommy John surgery, using the very generic approximate 11 to 13 months recovery for a reliever, we should have him back for the 2023 season if that’s the case,” Hahn said.
Losing Kimbrel was always part of the White Sox plan this offseason but losing Crochet due to unforeseen circumstances make the White Sox bullpen a lot less dangerous than it was 24 hours ago.
If the White Sox do not make a move interim options to replace Crochet include Bennett Sousa, Anderson Severino, Kyle Crick Ryan Burr, and Matt Foster.
