The Chicago White Sox got some good news on the Garrett Crochet injury front on Monday. The flamethrower is expected to be healthy for Spring Training.
Chicago White Sox reliever Garrett Crochet got some good injury news on Monday. James Fegan of The Athletic confirmed that Crochet’s elbow injury is a flexor strain, and that there is no damage to the UCL.
Hahn said Garrett Crochet has a flexor strain, and that his UCL is fine. He is expected to be full go for spring training
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) October 12, 2020
This is fantastic news for the White Sox. Anytime you see a guy throw as hard as Crochet, you expect a UCL injury to come at some point. After all, the human body was never meant to throw baseballs with an average fastball velocity of 100.1 mph. So when Crochet went down with an elbow injury, fans began to fear Tommy John surgery was calling.
Luckily, that was not the case. Crochet will get away with only a flexor strain and no worries that he’ll miss any time in 2020.
Crochet is an absolutely wild story. Drafted in 2020, he didn’t throw a single pitch in the minor leagues. When the need arose, the White Sox called upon him to make his professional debut on the biggest stage in baseball and he answered the call. He only threw six innings in five games, but he didn’t allow a single run, three hits and struck out eight.
By avoiding Tommy John surgery, Crochet has a real chance to make the Major League roster in 2021. He’s proven that he can handle the pressure of the league. He’s proven that he can get outs at this level. And it certainly doesn’t hurt his case that he’s gassing triple digits from the left side. If he continues to succeed, he might make it his entire professional career without throwing a pitch in minor league baseball.
Wherever Crochet’s 2021 season starts, there’s a strong likelihood that he’ll contribute at the Major League level. So it’s fantastic news for the Chicago White Sox that Crochet will be ready to go come Spring Training.