Crochet sets franchise mark with 31 K's in 4 starts

CHICAGO -- White Sox starter Garrett Crochet struck out the side on 17 pitches during a scoreless first inning against the Reds on Saturday afternoon at Guaranteed Rate Field.

But by the time the Reds finished their second inning, Crochet’s pitch total was at 54 and the visitors had all the runs they would need to hand the White Sox a 5-0 loss to drop them to 2-12 during their Major League-worst fifth shutout of the 2024 season. Crochet features a Major League-best 31 strikeouts against only four walks in 22 2/3 innings covering four starts, with 10 strikeouts coming over 4 2/3 innings Saturday, but two of those walks came in that fateful frame.

“I felt like I was kind of searching for something the first two innings just because my command wasn’t there, but I chalked that up to more of not being as competitive in the zone as I have been,” Crochet said. “I was focusing too much on hitting spots and not enough on throwing strikes.

“With the three walks, you could tell that came back to bite me. Competing in the zone, that’s my game. Today it took me far too long and I had already thrown too many pitches before I started.”

In a strange twist, the only hits and runs for the Reds came during that second inning. Jeimer Candelario doubled, Stuart Fairchild singled and Luke Maile’s single to left scored two runs. After Jonathan India walked to load the bases with two outs on a borderline 3-2 four-seamer, Spencer Steer doubled to left to score three.

Once again, Crochet struck out three in the second, but with five runs worth of damage mixed in by the Reds.

“He looked really sharp in the first inning,” Maile said. “I just thought we kind of started to swing at more pitches in the zone basically. I didn’t really expect breaking ball on my at-bat, but I was able to recognize it early and put something in play in the outfield.”

“Second inning, a couple of walks, a couple of hits, a couple of doubles. Amounted for five runs,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol said. “It seemed like instead of just getting after it, letting it go, he tried to pitch a little bit, as opposed to what he’s been having a lot of success with -- which is here’s my stuff and hit it.”

Crochet became the third Major League pitcher since at least 1901 to record 30 or more strikeouts and four or fewer walks over his first four career starts, joining Masahiro Tanaka (35/2 in 2014), and Felix Hernandez (30/4 in ‘05). He also became the seventh White Sox hurler to put together a 10-plus strikeout game within his first four career starts and set a new franchise record for most strikeouts through that many starts.

But his goal Saturday became providing as much length as possible for the White Sox after that eventful second inning.

“After a long inning like that, it comes down to how do I get through five,” Crochet said. “Talking with some of the veteran starters we’ve got, that’s kind of the name of the game. Everyone is going to give up runs now and then, but at the end of the day, it’s your job as a starter to get through 5 or 6.”

Crochet had 15 swings and misses and 15 called strikes among his 92 pitches, with 20 strikes coming against his four-seam fastball (nine whiffs, 11 called). His velocity on the pitch was down 1.3 mph from his average, but the stuff certainly played before and after the second.

Not throwing the changeup was something Crochet was kicking himself for after the game, as in the past, it’s what got his fastball back on track. But the way the cutter has been working for him this season, he stayed with the pitch “waiting for that to catch,” according to Crochet.

“Maybe I was trying to manipulate a little bit too much instead of just ripping it,” Crochet said. “It’s a grip and rip pitch. That’s why I’m chalking it up to timidness and shying away from contact. That’s not who I am. I’m going to go up there and, for the most part, I’m going to throw fastballs down the middle and see if you can hit it. Today it’s just not what I did.”

“It’s a learning experience for him,” Grifol said. “After that he settled down, and gave us what he gave us. He still struck out 10 guys.”