Garrett Crochet feeling strong, but White Sox lefty's workload will lighten at some point in 2024

The uncharted waters Garrett Crochet and the White Sox find themselves navigating in his first season as a major-league starting pitcher are undefined. They are potentially more hazardous — throwing a baseball at high velocities for a living is fraught with risks — than a lazy float along the Chicago River.

The Sox have a prized commodity in the left-hander. Eight starts into the season, their 2020 first-round draft pick has a 5.31 ERA, but his 53 strikeouts (three behind American League leader Luis Castillo) and top-of-the-rotation ability present promise for a brighter future during a gloomy time.

After their 3-2 victory against the Guardians on Thursday that opened a seven-game homestand at Guaranteed Rate Field, the Sox are 10-28.

As Crochet makes his ninth start Friday, the unanswered question is how many more and how many innings will follow. He threw only 12⅔ innings last season after missing all of 2022, with Tommy John surgery on the elbow and shoulder surgery, too, keeping him away.

Manager Pedro Grifol, who made Crochet his Opening Day starter, loves his makeup, maturity and ability and will watch out for his future.

“We’re never going to compromise his arm,” Grifol said.

Thirty starts in 2025 is a reasonable goal. But for 2024? Because the waters, as Grifol often says, are uncharted with the player, Crochet will be monitored, and exactly how the Sox manage his workload remains to be seen. Trainers, coaches, the front office and Grifol talk about it, but there is no blueprint for managing pitchers’ innings, no known perfect formula for getting the most out of an arm without adversely affecting a career.

Crochet worked so diligently in the offseason to be a starter, the thought of going to a lesser workload in the bullpen, where he performed just months after getting drafted out of Tennessee in 2020 and again in 2021, doesn’t sit well.

“Maybe cross that bridge when we get to it, but I don’t foresee that right now,” Crochet said.

He has the routine of starting down now and loves it.

“I feel great,” he said. “The routine I’ve been in has been good. I really feel like we have everything kind of nailed down. I feel like I’ve been rocking and rolling. Now it’s just performing.”

Crochet is averaging five innings and 84.5 pitches per start. Against the Cardinals in his last start Sunday, he threw 88 pitches in six innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts and no walks. In his previous start against the Twins, Grifol pulled him at 77 pitches and five innings of two-run ball (seven strikeouts, two walks). Crochet wanted no part of coming out, but Grifol had Brad Keller available for multiple relief innings and pounced on a good spot to “short-start” him.

The Sox won.

As the season evolves, extended rests could be in play, and perhaps the back end of the bullpen, which Grifol has acknowledged.

One possibility is using Crochet as an opener for an inning or two. In that scenario, he could start twice in a five-day period, maintaining a starter’s routine and mindset, rather than sitting in the bullpen waiting for the phone to ring. But that would be later in the season.

In any case, Crochet feels strong right now, which is one of the things that matters most.

“When I hear the question [about how I’m feeling], I think about how I’m feeling when I’m standing on the rubber, and right now I feel really good,” Crochet said. “My delivery, I feel like I’m repeating everything very well. The pitch shapes are great, and I feel like I’m throwing everything out of the same arm slot. And health-wise, everything has been good.”