After all the draft night questions about whether Garrett Crochet had the third pitch necessary to start, it seems like he might have found one through a game of player development telephone.
"I was throwing it with [Brian] Bannister and he was like 'Yeah, it's good, it's not bad,' and it would have helped my arsenal with where it was," Crochet said. "But then I got a grip from [Michael] Kopech and that's what took off."
Dedicated White Sox cutter enthusiasts will recall that Kopech got his grip for the cutter he used this season from Bannister. And similar to Kopech, the thing about this new third pitch is it's sort of become Crochet's second pitch, as he threw 31 cutters on Saturday and didn't use any of his other secondaries more than five times.
The spring training goal of simply finding a pitch that moved glove side while sitting between his fastball and slider in velocity, has evolved into something that gives Crochet the versatility that he didn't have with a low-80s sweeper.
"I remember throwing that bullpen at Tampa because I didn't pitch there in that series," Crochet recalled. "I was going cutter up, cutter down, cutter up, cutter down, cutter up, cutter down. There were six in a row and I was hitting my spots with it and I was 'OK, this is something I can utilize.' I can shape it how I want it."
Crochet didn't get to the American League lead in strikeouts by not loving them a little bit. He admits he gets excited with the "depthy" version of the cutter that can act more like a low-90s swing-and-miss slider, and seemingly bears little resemblance to the pitch John Danks used to bore into right-handers for weak contact. But when he reflects on it, Crochet sees moments where pulling out the more traditional version has given him a well-rounded attack.
"We went back door a couple times [on Saturday] and that's the one I want to upshoot and that I want to stay true and be true [cutter] as opposed to having depth," Crochet said. "It opens up the changeup a little bit more. I look back to Gary Sánchez in his second at-bat, I went backdoor cutter, then I went changeup. It was kind of high, but it was two or three balls off the plate and it got a pop fly; a two-pitch out. He's expecting it to come back and then it goes away.
"That's why I like about it, it just expands that part of the plate. That's what I struggled with early in the year, I was really just using the inner half, so when I can work at-bats like that, it helps guys not to sit in one spot."
The trick works even better working on the outer half to lefties, where a cutter that subtly darts to the outside corner sets up the huge horizontal movement of the sweeping slider behind it.
Crochet sits 96 mph from the left side with elite extension, which is what you'll see him turn to down the stretch of his outings and in any moment of doubt. He's a power arm who's rolling on a last-place team, and that would be enough to drive trade inquiries on its own. But with a walk rate below 6 percent and routes to inducing weak contact on each side of the plate, he's answered questions about his profile as a starter that seemed as long-term as concerns about his health.
That alone would make it mostly unsurprising to see Crochet pop up in both ESPN and The Athletic as someone who could get moved at the trade deadline next month, or meaningfully before it. It lines up with some industry chatter that the Sox -- clearly selling for a far-off future -- could or should get a jump on the starting pitching market by moving Crochet.
At 24 years of age and with two years of team control left after the 2024 season, Crochet’s breakout first half in the rotation only offers two paths for a dismal Sox team that looks multiple years away: extend his contract or hunt for a trade. And general manager Chris Getz’s most recent comments on the matter hinted at which direction was more likely.
“Any team in baseball would want Garrett Crochet on their club,” Getz said. “How they would use him, would be up to them.”
The last sentence alluded to the fundamental question for any interested contender. Crochet cruised past his professional career-high in innings pitched in a season a few starts ago, and even his heaviest year of work in college was surpassed by the end of Saturday's outing in Milwaukee. With a not insignificant mix of elbow and shoulder injuries in his history, he’s a non-traditional addition for a playoff-minded contender. Such a team would have to weigh their hopes of Crochet heading up their rotation in 2025 and 2026, against their immediate needs for innings from him in what was supposed be a more limited run in 2024.
But with the Sox's direction clear and Crochet's method of operation looking more stable than ever, the uncertainty of having the left-hander fully available in October could be offset by getting an immediate boost in June and July, rather than waiting until August to secure his services. It would make sense if the price is right, which is more than a throwaway qualifier.
Ken Rosenthal reported the White Sox have interest in positional talent in return for Crochet, which lines up with the fallout from the Dylan Cease trade. The Sox largely hunted prospects at the Double-A level or higher in the Cease talks, and found it hard to pry loose positional talent of the caliber they wanted on the positional side. They ultimately got value they were happy with in a package headlined by Drew Thorpe and Jairo Iriarte, but it came with the inherent added risk of pitching prospects.
If Crochet winds up giving the Sox another bite at the apple, that exchange of cutter grips will feel pretty meaningful.
