Garrett Crochet Suffers Setback, White Sox Mismanaging Another Injured Player

For whatever reason the Chicago White Sox refuse to utilize the injured list when it’s pretty obvious that a player needs to be sidelined, but we’ll get into the Andrew Vaughn situation later on. The other recent injury news isn’t good either, as left-handed pitcher Garrett Crochet suffered a setback.

Crochet, who missed all of the 2022 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in April of last year, returned to the White Sox on May 16, when he was activated off the injured list. Crochet pitched in 10 games, posting a 3.60 ERA in 10 innings after coming back from the elbow surgery, but then on June 20, the White Sox placed the lefty on the 15-day injured list with shoulder inflammation.

On June 28, Crochet was sent to Double-A on his first rehab assignment and then in early July the White Sox moved him to Triple-A. The 24-year-old appeared in two games on his rehab assignment, one apiece with the Birmingham Barons and Charlotte Knights, respectively. However, if you had noticed, then you saw that Crochet had not pitched since July 6.

The layoff seems longer than it actually is because of the All-Star break that was between July 10-13, but it turns out that something has gone awry.

On Friday night, the White Sox passed along the following update on Crochet.

Via Chicago Sun-Times reporter Daryl Van Schouwen.

Left-hander Garrett Crochet returned from his rehab assignment at Charlotte with a recurrence of the shoulder inflammation that landed him on the injured list on June 21, per White Sox.

Crochet last pitched for the White Sox on June 15, against the Los Angeles Dodgers. His first rehab appearance was on July 2 at Double-A and the last time he was in a game was with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights on July 6. Now, he’ll be further delayed with the same shoulder issue that popped up a month ago.

I know White Sox fans want to bash the team because of every single thing that goes wrong with players dealing with injuries, but this sort of stuff does happen with pitchers returning from Tommy John surgery.

That first year coming back can be rough for pitchers and that’s unfortunately the case with Crochet as of now. But hey, when a team has the track record of the White Sox, then yeah, I get the annoyance.

Oh and speaking of mismanaging injured players, Andrew Vaughn missed his third consecutive game on Friday night, when the White Sox began a three-game series on the road against the Minnesota Twins. The right-handed hitting first baseman has a bone bruise on his foot and White Sox manager Pedro Grifol wasn’t really sure how much longer Vaughn would be out.

Vaughn did not pinch hit in the 9-4 loss to the Twins Friday night.

Vaughn, who last played on Tuesday against the New York Mets, had x-rays taken on his left foot on Thursday. The 25-year-old fouled a pitch off his left foot during Chicago’s 11-10 loss to New York.

So, here’s what’s frustrating for White Sox fans. I mean, at this point of the season, the odds of making the playoffs is slim, and you certainly don’t help your chances by playing a man short for three straight games. Secondly, after having a solid month of June, when Vaughn posted an .811 OPS, that included a .484 slugging %, he’s looked pretty rough at the plate in July.

In 12 games this month, Vaughn is slashing .188/.204/.208, 9-for-48, with 15 strikeouts and zero walks. Yeah, maybe Vaughn could benefit from going on the injured list to at least reset and not have to worry further if his foot feels fine to play or not.

As for other potential roster moves this weekend, it sounds like right-handed relief pitcher Joe Kelly will be activated from the 15-day injured list. Kelly was placed on the injured list because of inflammation in his right elbow on July 6.