The Chicago White Sox played it safe with Garrett Crochet last season.
After the standout starting pitcher tossed at least five innings in 15 of his first 18 starts, the White Sox, who were on their way to a 121-loss season, stepped in and controlled Crochet’s usage since he was a prized asset. Crochet still made 32 starts, but didn’t throw over four innings in any outing over the final three months of the season.
Crochet hopes he doesn’t have to go through that same caged experience now that he’s a member of the Boston Red Sox.
“In terms of how long my leash will be, I hope to not even be wearing a collar come the second half next year,” Crochet told reporters via Zoom on Friday, per team-provided video.
Crochet finished with 146 innings under his belt as a full-time starting pitcher and more importantly, emerged from the season fully healthy.
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The 25-year-old left-hander couldn’t always say that. He is just two seasons removed from Tommy John surgery, which took away his entire 2022 campaign and limited him to a mere 12 2/3 innings in 2023 as he also battled left shoulder inflammation that season.
So last season was a big step up in workload for Crochet as learned the rhythms of a starting pitcher. But he’s ready to take on more now that there’s way more riding on his shoulders as the ace of the Red Sox.
“It was frustrating in a lot of ways, but at the same time, I understood the usage concerns,” Crochet said. “Going from 12 to 100 (innings) would be seen as a big jump and just even being that close to 150 (innings) is a lot greater. But for me, there were a lot of things I was working on in the second half that I felt like I could have expanded on had the innings been a little bit more normal, I suppose. But at the same time, that’s kind of the cards I was dealt and I was still just trying to get my work in the best I could.”