From Ocean Springs to South Side Southpaw: Garrett Crochet goes no. 11 overall to White Sox
When people say ‘man, that guy came out of nowhere,’ chances are he didn’t come out of nowhere, chances are he’s been working his tail off when no one was watching.
Ocean Springs alum Garrett Crochet is one of those guys that ‘came out of nowhere’ as an under-recruited high school senior turned first round pick of the Chicago White Sox.
“It’s just been a joy to watch his journey and the path that he’s taken, and man, we’re just – we’re on Cloud Nine over here in Greyhound nation.” Ocean Springs head Baseball Coach Brian Rea can always say he knew Garrett Crochet back when before he was the highest drafted pitcher to ever come out of Tennessee and before his slot value was worth more than $4 million. “It was real neat to be just a small part of that experience in getting to brag about him and talk to these guys as they’re trying to decide is this guy worth millions of dollars, which just blows your mind when you think about it.”
Originally a 34th round selection by the Milwaukee Brewers back in 2017, Crochet was the epitome of a late bloomer. Not even drawing his first Division I offer until after he was a high school graduate. “He was out in Texas pitching in a tournament, and he touched the 90 number with the right people in the stands, and man, it just started blowing up for him.”
In less than three years’ time, the former Greyhound was touching triple digits on the gun to go along with a devastating slider. Now, he has the best fastball in the entire 2020 draft class. “If you ask my opinion, I think that guy can get out big league hitters today. I wouldn’t be shocked if we see him – if Major League Baseball gets it together and can agree on a start date and all the details – I’ve seen some reports where he very well may be in that bullpen in the big leagues here during this short season.”
With a White Sox jersey already in the works, Crochet figures to be a big part of Chicago’s future plans. Plans that the South Side Southpaw started making a long time ago. “This is something that I think Garrett has always believed he could do. He’s a very self-confident young man, and once the stuff caught up with the mentality, then there you have a first-round No. 11 overall pick. And so super story, phenomenal story, and there’s so much more for him to write in his story.”
Coach Rea says Crochet was watching the first round of the draft last night from Knoxville, Tennessee.
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