Crochet is latest success story for development staff
Garrett Crochet struck out Brian Goodwin on six pitches during his majorleague debut Friday in Cincinnati. The final pitch was clocked at 100 mph.
Crochet struck out the next batter, Jose Garcia, on three pitches, the last one at 101 mph.
The 21-year-old Crochet, taken with the No. 11 pick in this year’s draft, became the latest young player to make an impact for the Chicago White Sox.
Director of player development Chris Getz said it has been “very gratifying” watching the group continue to grow at the big-league level.
“You certainly don’t know when the opportunity’s going to come for a lot of players and then how they’re going to react at the major-league level, but to get the production that we’ve gotten from some of these young players has been very gratifying,” Getz said during a conference call before Monday’s game against the Indians at Progressive Field in Cleveland. “I’m impressed. That’s a testament to the player more than anything. We’ve got a lot of professional guys that go about this the right way and understand what’s at stake but don’t get outside what they’re capable of doing.
“You look at our bullpen, we’ve got a long list of young players that have a little bit of experience, and then you’ve got some that have zero experience that have gotten opportunities and run with it. You’ve got a starting rotation with young pitchers that have done well. And then you can go across the diamond. I enjoy watching every single game because it’s an opportunity for young guys to go out there and play and fit in with the rest of our club that has been jelling well.”
General manager Rick Hahn acknowledged the contributions that many members of the organization made to the Sox’s first playoff berth since 2008.
“Part of the way we needed to get healthy was to improve what we were doing from a scouting and player development standpoint,” Hahn said Friday, “whether it was our domestic amateur staff under Nick Hostetler and Mike Shirley, international scouting under Marco Paddy, our player development under Chris Getz — there has been a lot of organization successes along the way.”
With no minor leagues this season, some prospects have been developing at the alternate training facility in Schaumburg. Monday’s starter, Dane Dunning, was among those who spent time in Schaumburg this summer before adapting quickly to the majors.
Dunning entered Monday’s game 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA and 28 strikeouts in his first five starts.
“He’s got a strong understanding of his stuff and how it plays,” Getz said. “He pitches with good tempo. He gets on the mound and he goes. And that helps his pitchability. With four pitches and using them correctly, not a very easy thing to do out of the gate at the major-league level. But he’s shown the ability to do that, knowing when to throw the two-seam, where to throw it, knowing when and where to throw the four-seam. He developed a curveball not too long ago that’s become a real weapon, then of course the slider and the changeup.
“He’s a very confident kid who’s got a strong understanding of how his stuff plays, and thankfully for the White Sox, it’s translated fairly quickly.”
Dunning was a firstround draft pick by the Washington Nationals in 2016 and came to the Sox in the Adam Eaton trade with Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez. He missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Crochet became the first player from the 2020 draft to make his major-league debut. Getz said Crochet is “genuinely confident” about his ability. He was impressed how Crochet took to instructions while in Schaumburg.
“I guess the last question you ask yourself, if we are going to challenge this person — who has not pitched much this year, who has not pitched in the minor leagues — to pitch for our majorleague team, would he be able to handle that,” Getz said. “Certainly a difficult question to answer, but based on all the feedback and what I was witnessing, you’ve got the stuff and the tools that speak ‘majorleague pitcher.’ Emotionally, can he handle this? And we felt like he could.”