Garrett Crochet was relieved on Wednesday, when after months of speculation about where the Chicago White Sox might trade him, he finally found a new home in Boston.
The Red Sox sent four prospects to Chicago in exchange for the 25-year-old left-hander, one of the best young starters in baseball.
“There was definitely a lot of relief when it finally came to fruition,” Crochet said via Zoom on Friday. “A lot of people might view the trade as adding some chaos into your life, but for me, it felt like all the chaos was stripped away. Worrying about it for eight months on end, knowing the writing on the wall. It’s nice just being able to put it behind me and look forward to the season.”
As far back as the trade deadline, the Red Sox had been pursuing Crochet but a deal never materialized at the time. They were far from the only team vying for the lefty, who pitched one of the most dominant seasons in baseball last season and doesn’t hit free agency for two more years.
Crochet posted a 3.58 ERA in 32 starts over 146 innings with a 35.1 percent strikeout rate and 5.5 percent walk rate, a lone bright spot on a 121-loss White Sox team. Among pitchers with at least 100 innings, Crochet’s 35.1 percent strikeout rate was No. 1 in baseball. He led all American League starters with six starts of 10 or more strikeouts. His 97.2 mph fastball ranked in the top 10 percent in the league. He allowed three runs or fewer in 15 consecutive starts in the first half.
Garrett Crochet, 99mph Fastball and 95mph Cutter, Overlay. pic.twitter.com/jLAuBNMa39
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 2, 2024
His 2024 season was even more impressive in that it marked the first year Crochet was a full-time starter in the majors. Drafted in the first round in 2020, Crochet skipped the minors and debuted in September of that season with the White Sox, becoming the first pitcher since Brandon Finnegan in 2014 to make his big-league debut the year he was drafted. The White Sox used Crochet out of the bullpen in 2020 and throughout 2021 with an intent to build him out as a starter, but at the start of 2022, he landed on the injury list with elbow inflammation leading to Tommy John surgery. He missed all of 2022 and most of 2023.
Crochet made 32 starts in 2024, but after pitching five or more innings in his first 18 starts, the White Sox limited his innings in the second half. Over the final three months, he pitched no more than four innings a start but took the mound every five days, marking an important step in building out his endurance as a starter, even if he pitched fewer innings.
He stayed healthy the entire year and because of the purposeful pitching plan, but envisions going much deeper into starts in 2025.
“It was frustrating in a lot of ways, but at the same time, I understood the usage concerns,” he said. “Going from 12 to 100 (innings) would be seen as a big jump and just even being that close to 150 (innings) is a lot greater. There were a lot of things I was working on in the second half that I felt like I could have expanded had the innings been a little bit more normal.
“In terms of how long my leash will be, I hope to not even be wearing a collar come the second half next year,” he added.
Crochet noted his excitement in working with pitching Andrew Bailey who had worked alongside Crochet’s former White Sox pitching coach Ethan Katz when both were in San Francisco. Though Crochet is coming off an excellent season, he’s still just 25 with one full season as a starter and has plenty to learn as he enters the Red Sox’s pitching program.
Garrett Crochet, Unfair Behind-the-Back Leg Slider. 😯 pic.twitter.com/nVCyMAm84X
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 7, 2024
As a reliever, Crochet relied almost exclusively on his sweeper and four-seamer. Last season, he added a cutter and sinker while incorporating his changeup more judiciously.
“I felt like I was utilizing the changeup a lot more effectively and learned the situations to throw it based on hitters’ reactions or just setting it up in general,” he said as he dug into his pitch mix and how he learned to use different pitches in different situations.
“The sweeper was a pitch that at the beginning of the year, I was doing exactly what I wanted to with it, in terms of throwing it for strikes at a higher clip, using it early, using it late,” he said. “Adding the cutter, which I really didn’t do until spring training, was where the real growth started to set in. I felt like that was huge for my game, as a whole. It was kind of protecting the sweeper and protecting the four-seam all at the same time.
“Throughout the year, as hitters began to adjust to me, I felt that adding a sinker maybe wasn’t necessary, but I saw it as very beneficial after seeing how the cutter panned out. Just being a pitch that breaks to my glove side, and I could throw hard like a fastball. I kind of wanted to pair that with another pitch that broke arm-side that I could throw hard like a fastball.”
Crochet said he wasn’t necessarily surprised with how well he pitched last season but was relieved with how well the year went after missing much of the previous two.
In a funny turn of events, if Crochet’s history of uniform numbers is any indication of future success in Boston, he’s in good company.
The newest Red Sox starter wore No. 45 for the White Sox the past four seasons, but quickly realized Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez’s “45” was a retired jersey in Boston. Crochet wore No. 34 at the University of Tennessee but realized that number, of course, was also retired, belonging to Hall of Famer David Ortiz. So he went back even further and landed on the No. 14 that he wore in high school in Mississippi, only to learn that Hall of Famer Jim Rice wore “14” and that too sits on the facade in right field among Red Sox retired numbers.
Crochet settled on No. 35.
Crochet, who pitched with Lucas Giolito and Liam Hendriks in Chicago and met Tanner Houck and Jarren Duran at the All-Star Game, is excited to call Fenway Park home.
“It’s an electric atmosphere and the fans are knowledgeable about baseball, and not every fanbase can say that,” he said. “That along with, they expect you to win and they expect you to be great because they’ve seen it before. And that’s the main thing I’m looking forward to.”
(Photo: Denis Poroy / Getty Images)
