Garrett Crochet is likely to be the lone Chicago White Sox representative on the American League All-Star team.
But with the Sox trying to limit Crochet’s workload in his first season as a starter, do they even want him to pitch in the Midsummer Classic?
Manager Pedro Grifol, who coached in two All-Star Games, said the answer is an unequivocal “yes.”
“Just being around the guys when they’re there, it’s an unbelievable experience, especially if it’s the first time you go to an All-Star Game,” he said. “And it’s an even more unbelievable experience to be able to participate in it. We’ll do everything in our power to make sure he’s available to pitch in it, unless he pitches that last day before the break or something like that happens.
“But right now, if he gets to represent us there, we’d love for him to be able to participate in it.”
One night after a sellout crowd at Sox Park, only 12,656 showed up on a gorgeous afternoon to watch five Sox pitchers combine for a shutout in a 1-0 victory against the Atlanta Braves.
Luis Robert Jr.’s first-inning solo home run off former Sox ace Chris Sale proved to be the difference, helping the Sox snap a four-game losing streak and improve to 22-61.
Chad Kuhl, Justin Anderson, Jared Shuster, John Brebbia and Michael Kopech combined on the three-hitter, walking five. Sale struck out 11 over seven innings in his return to the South Side. Sox fans gave him a warm ovation when he took the mound.
“I always enjoy coming back,” Sale said. “It will always be kind of weird, but once you get warming up and get going, it’s still baseball. I appreciated my time here. It was great. But I’m here now. Got to keep rolling.”
The trade of Sale after the 2016 season, which brought Yoán Moncada and Kopech back in return, started the original rebuild. Eight years later, it’s Crochet who could command a slew of prospects for the current rebuild if the Sox decide to deal him by the July 30 trade deadline.
Crochet arguably would be the most valuable starting pitcher on the market and could be dealt either before or after the All-Star Game. It has happened before. The Chicago Cubs traded Jeff Samardzija to the Oakland A’s before he was named to the 2014 All-Star team. Samardzija went for the festivities but did not pitch.
Crochet said it would “be cool” to pitch in the All-Star Game, adding it was out of his control.
“I’ve got to throw well and give the guys a chance to win, and whatever happens happens,” he said.
Crochet’s next start is set for Sunday against the Colorado Rockies, and barring a change in the rotation he would be on schedule to pitch July 6 in Miami and July 12 at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates. That would give him three days of rest before the July 16 game in Arlington, Texas.
It’s possible Crochet could start for the AL team considering he leads the league with 130 strikeouts and is tied for second in bWAR (3.8). No one is standing head and shoulders above the rest, and the Detroit Tigers’ Tarik Skubal, Boston Red Sox’s Tanner Houck, Kansas City Royals’ Seth Lugo and Baltimore Orioles’ Corbin Burnes also figure to be in the conversation.
Grifol has said repeatedly he would need to manage Crochet’s pitch counts and innings, which is easier said than done the way the left-hander is throwing. He’ll be a strong candidate for AL Pitcher of the Month with a 1.76 ERA in his five starts in June with 45 strikeouts and only six walks and one home run allowed in 30 2/3 innings.
When asked recently if he thought the Sox would increase his pitch count as he proves he’s stronger every outing, Crochet told the Tribune: “The thoughts I’ve had is we’ll just reevaluate after the All-Star break. I’ve been feeling good and communicating with the training staff that I’m feeling good.
“It’s natural for there to be a slight worry since I’ve never thrown this many innings. But my body is responding really well, so that’s all I can ask for.”
There was some thought early on that Crochet could be used in the bullpen later in the summer to limit his innings. Or he could be shut down if the Sox wanted to be overprotective, as the Washington Nationals did with Stephen Strasburg in September 2012.
“He’s had a terrific season for us,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said at the time. “You couldn’t ask for anything more coming off his first season of Tommy John surgery. He’s a huge part of where we’re at right now.”
Crochet missed all of 2022 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and is as valuable to the Sox as Strasburg was to the Nats.
“There are a number of different ways it can go,” Crochet told me. “It’s really just about me being honest with the (training) staff when that time comes. I’m kind of set on going out there and pitching until they take the ball away from me.”
While Grifol has to be cautious about his ace, he also understands the importance to Sox fans of seeing Crochet get the recognition he deserves.
“Once he started four, five, six games and we started to see where this was headed, at least in my mind I started to think about the All-Star Game for him,” Grifol said. “You start shutting him down and that sort of limits the possibilities of him participating in that game. That’s not why you keep him going.
“You keep him going because every test we have, every communication we have with everybody in the building says he’s still strong, getting stronger and able to withstand what he’s doing right now.”
