CHICAGO — Erick Fedde was on the mound yesterday, and Garret Crochet was on the mound today. Both starts had about as much pomp and circumstance as any other game in what has been a miserable season for the Chicago White Sox, and the dreary results beg the question, are these the last starts for the two in a White Sox uniform this season?
Fedde, who had the second highest bWAR among MLB starting pitchers (4.7) heading into his start yesterday (behind the Detroit Tiger’s Tarik Skubal), pitched just four innings in his shortest outing of the year, and gave up three runs on six hits before the White Sox eventually fell, 6-3.
Crochet, who led the American League in strikeouts (157) and WHIP (0.97) heading into his start today, didn’t even last as long as Fedde, though that may have been caused as much by an off performance, as it was by design from Chicago’s coaching staff.
“We definitely have a plan going in. I’m not going to disclose any of that stuff. I don’t want them planning a game plan against him,” said White Sox manager Pedro Grifol before their game Sunday. “Just keep in mind we’re trying to control the workload. But we’ll see how it goes.”
Crochet was done after three innings. He gave up five runs (three earned), on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts, before Chicago (once more) lost 6-3, tying a franchise record 14-game losing streak they set earlier this year.
The lone silver lining was that Crochet’s arm still looked fresh. He topped out at 99.9 mph on his fastball before being taken out of the game.
Sizzling velocity is exciting, sure. But it’s nowhere near enough to inject any level of enthusiasm or interest into this team, and if moves are made to send Crochet and Fedde elsewhere, the skies will become even more grey on the South Side of Chicago.
The Major League Baseball trade deadline is this coming Tuesday at 5 p.m. CT, and both players have been linked to multiple teams in search of starting pitching by industry insiders.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported the Milwaukee Brewers and St. Louis Cardinals have interest in Fedde, while the New York Post’s Joel Sherman said the New York Mets are interested after the season-ending injury to Kodai Senga.
Rosenthal also reported the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres have interest in Crochet.
Fedde is in a much more conventional situation at the deadline. He’s a pitcher who signed a prove-it deal heading into 2024, and has done that and more.
Now 7-4 with a 3.11 ERA in 21 starts, Fedde has struck out 108 batters, compared to walking just 34, across 121.2 innings where he still possesses the second highest bWAR among starting pitchers in baseball (still 4.7).
“I try to look at it as a 180 in the career. I was sent away and now, [I’m] possibly a trade piece that people are willing to give up stuff for so, if anything, I look at it as a compliment and it’s something that I hold my head high about,” Fedde said after his start Saturday.
He also seemed at peace with where he was at. After their game Saturday, he offered up a positive perspective on his time in Chicago, despite the club’s record and if he does indeed end up being traded away.
“It’s been great. It’s been a pleasure to work with [Ethan] Katz and [Brian Bannister]. They’ve put a ton of time into me, making me the best pitcher I can be,” Fedde said. “Obviously, it’s been tough. We haven’t won a ton of games. But this has been a great clubhouse. My starting staff has been amazing, just the guys I get to grow with, and I’ve enjoyed my time, for sure.”
Crochet’s situation is much more complicated and may cause teams to err on the side of waiting until the offseason to engage in trade talks with the White Sox.
Up until this season, Crochet’s professional career high when it came to innings pitched was 54.1 innings across 54 games as a reliever out of Chicago’s bullpen in 2021.
In college at Tennessee, he threw 63.2 innings in 2018, and 65 innings in 2019. Combined, he pitched in 35 games, making 12 starts across 128.2 innings over those two years.
So far in 2024, Crochet has pitched 111.1 innings in 21 starts — More than double his professional career high, and nearly as many as he threw his entire college career — Which could signal he’s near the end of his fuel tank for some teams, but at the same time, he’s far surpassed all reasonable expectation of how he would perform over those 21 starts.
On top of leading the AL in strikeouts and WHIP, Crochet also leads the league in FIP (2.30) and leads all of baseball in strikeouts-per-nine innings (12.7).
It poses a difficult conundrum, where the White Sox’s value Crochet as a No. 1 starter and rightfully want a return that matches such a stature, but teams who want to acquire him — That are competing to win a World Series — Likely won’t want to give up a trade package like that for a pitcher who may not be available once October rolls around.
What muddies the situation even more is that Crochet made it known he wants a contract extension if he’s traded to a playoff team that would want him to pitch in October.
Crochet, to his credit, has remained highly-competitive despite Chicago’s porous 27-81 record — By and far the worst record in all of baseball — And it shouldn’t come as a surprise he wants to cash in on a generational paycheck, but it does seem the chatter over the deadline has worn him down a bit.
When asked if the constant questions surrounding his future have become tiring to the point, he’s started blocking them out, Crochet paused, took a deep breath, and provided a one-word response.
“Yes.”
From the perspective of those around him, shortstop Paul DeJong, who had two errors in one inning and a two-run home run Sunday playing third base, said he sees nothing wrong with how Crochet has handled the deadline, and the club is behind him regardless of what happens.
“Crochet’s in a new role completely this year. He’s been competing really well, and he got an all-star nod. He’s just been our best pitcher, and there’s a lot of attention that comes with that,” DeJong said. “I think he’s adjusting to that, and I think what he said about his demands is fair for a person in his situation who hasn’t thrown a lot of innings.
“He’s trying to protect his health and his career, and we support him.”
When it’s all said and done, I think one will depart and one will stay, with Fedde being the one traded away and Crochet staying.
Fedde’s situation makes sense, while there are too many unknowns with Crochet, but all this writing could be for naught, based on what happens between now, and 5 p.m. CT Tuesday.