Garrett Crochet added to White Sox player pool: Are the big leagues next?

2020 1st-round pick LHP Garrett Crochet is joining White Sox camp.

Chicago White Sox fans may develop a case of deja vu watching the club’s 2020 first-round pick Garrett Crochet.

Crochet is a 6’6 left-handed pitcher with a fastball that tops out at 100 mph and a big-breaking slider he throws from a three-quarters delivery. He’s much like another 6-foot-6 left-hander and former White Sox prospect, Chris Sale. He was drafted by the White Sox with the 13th pick in 2010 and made his big-league debut out of the bullpen just two months later. He would go on to win 74 games for Chicago over the next seven seasons, making five All-Star Game appearances and finishing in the top-five in Cy Young Award voting four times.

Sale left Chicago’s South Side for the Boston Red Sox before the 2017 season. Just three years later, the White Sox may have found his replacement as Crochet is on a similar career trajectory.

The White Sox drafted the 21-year-old out of Tennessee with the 11th overall pick in June. Sidelined by shoulder soreness at the beginning of the year, he made just one appearance for the Volunteers in 2020, striking out six in 3.1 scoreless innings against Wright State on March 7. In his sophomore year, he led Tennessee to the school’s first win in the NCAA tournament in 14 years while making 18 appearances. The White Sox added Crochet to their 60-man player pool on Tuesday, where he will join their satellite camp at Schaumburg Boomers Stadium beginning on Wednesday.

Could Crochet make his MLB debut this season?

He may have no professional experience, but the White Sox aren’t ruling out Crochet making an appearance in the big leagues this season. “In an environment like this, it’s tough to rule anything out,” Chris Getz, White Sox director of player development, said on Tuesday. “Garrett is a talented player, but the focus is truly just to get his foot in the door here and get around our guys, and we’ll go from there. With talented players like himself, I hate to rule anything out.”

The White Sox were one of the more active clubs this offseason, looking to build a roster of veterans to complement their young prospects. They signed catcher Yasmani Grandal, first baseman Edwin Encarnacion, and pitchers Dallas Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez. They already had homegrown talent in Lucas Giolito, Eloy Jimenez, and Tim Anderson. Add to that the impending debut of Luis Robert, the Cuban import and No. 2 prospect in baseball who hit 32 home runs and batted .328 in the minors in 2019, and the White Sox believe they are on the verge of ending the club’s playoff drought that stretches to 2008.

Aaron Bummer is their best option for a left-hander out of the bullpen. Bummer made 58 appearances for the White Sox last season, striking out 60 with a 2.13 ERA. He’s expected to be the club’s set-up man for closer Alex Colome.

But having depth, especially in a condensed schedule, is always an advantage. Crochet can join Bummer this season in the White Sox bullpen. Sale did it a decade ago; Crochet is simply following in his footsteps.