White Sox' Flamethrower Did Something Not Done in Last 20 Years of Baseball History This Week

The Chicago White Sox have had a dreadful season this year but probable All-Star Garrett Crochet has been an excellent revelation. The lefty had a 13-strikeout performance against the Seattle Mariners this week which accomplished some amazing baseball history.

Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Garrett Crochet (45) throws against the Milwaukee Brewers in the first inning at American Family Field on June 1. / Benny Sieu-USA TODAY Sports

The Chicago White Sox are having a terrible season, but left-hander Garrett Crochet has been an incredibly positive revelation.

The lefty, who struck out 13 batters on Thursday against the Seattle Mariners, is now carrying a 3.16 ERA to go along with his 6-5 record. He's struck out 116 batters in 82.2 innings. In fact, his outing against Seattle made some incredible baseball history over the last 20 years, according to @OptaSTATS:

The average pitch thrown by Garrett Crochet of the @WhiteSox tonight was 95.6 MPH (including all pitches, not just fastballs).

That's the highest average pitch velocity by any MLB left-hander in an outing in the last 20 years (min. 50 pitches).

The average pitch thrown by Garrett Crochet of the @whitesox tonight was 95.6 MPH (including all pitches, not just fastballs).

That's the highest average pitch velocity by any MLB left-hander in an outing in the last 20 years (min. 50 pitches). pic.twitter.com/DxInYcV074

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) June 14, 2024

That tells you two things: Everything that Crochet throws he throws hard, and that he also didn't bother throwing many true offspeed pitches. In fact, Crochet didn't need much in that outing beyond a 97-99 MPH fastball and a 92-93 MPH cutter.

The 24-year-old lefty converted from a reliever to a starter this season and it has been a great decision for the organization. In fact, several teams are reportedly interested in trading for Crochet, who has two years left of team control (after this year) but the White Sox aren't interested yet in moving him.

After another loss on Friday night, the White Sox are now 18-53 on the season. They'll be back in action on Saturday night when they take on the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

First pitch is set for 10:10 p.m. ET as Erick Fedde (CWS) pitches against Scott McGough (ARZ).

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