Ocean Springs alum Garrett Crochet drafted 11th by Chicago White Sox

The 34^th round pick used by the Milwaukee Brewers on Ocean Springs alum Garrett Crochet in 2017 no longer exists in this year’s new five round format. Good thing for Crochet, he doesn’t need it.

Tonight, the former Greyhound was drafted for a second time, this time as a first-rounder taken 11^th overall by the Chicago White Sox.

That makes Crochet the highest drafted pitcher to ever come out of the University of Tennessee, getting picked seven slots higher than his number 18 ranking, according to MLB Pipeline.

His decision to pass on the Brewers for the Volunteers now pays off in a big way in the form of a slot value worth $4,547,500.

Crochet is regarded as the best fastball pitcher in this year’s draft class, topping out at 100 miles per hour.

The 6’6” southpaw racked up 149 strikeouts in 132 innings at UT, pitching the Vols to their first NCAA Tournament victory since 2005 as a sophomore in 2019.

The 20-year-old Crochet broke out in a big way as a high school senior, posting a 1.48 ERA on his way to receiving other late offers from Tulane and Texas.  Here’s what they’re saying about Crochet. “Now you could be looking at the pitcher with the best overall stuff in this draft class. This kid is 6’6″, a lefty, hits 100 miles per hour. Fastball you can dream on. If there’s a kid, the comparisons here, you’ve heard Chris Sale before. There’s every reason why you like Garrett Crochet because of what you just described. I mean a big tall guy, left-handed and he throws bullets. I mean in this quarantine time he’s been up to 100. You just look at this, this is not a comfortable at-bat at all. But here, this was just during this quarantine, 100 miles per hour.”