Garrett Crochet is taking home an award ahead of a pivotal offseason.
The left-handed pitcher has been named 2024 American League Comeback Player of the Year, announced on Thursday night as part of the All-MLB Weekend in Las Vegas. The award is presented at the end of each season to one player in each league who has bounced back, and was selected by 30 club beat reporters from MLB.com.
Crochet, 25, missed the entire 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery and made just 13 appearances in 2023. Finally healthy in 2024, the southpaw completed his first full season as a starter. He quickly established himself as one of the best pitchers in the game, notching All-Star honors after a strong first half in which he led all of Major League Baseball in strikeouts (150), K/9 (12.6), and fWAR (3.9). He finished the season with a 3.58 ERA, 209 strikeouts, 2.69 FIP, and 1.068 WHIP over a career-high 146 innings thrown.
With tonight’s honor, a White Sox player has won the Comeback Player of the Year Award two years in a row. Crochet joins right-handed pitcher Liam Hendriks as a recipient after the team’s former closer won in 2023. Designated hitter Jim Thome is the only other player in franchise history to win the award, securing the vote in 2006, just the second year after the award was established.
Interestingly enough, two players with connections to the White Sox will take home this award this year. In addition to Crochet, former White Sox ace Chris Sale also won the award for National League players. The left-hander re-established himself with the Braves and did so in dominant fashion after making just 31 starts from 2021-23. He finished the 2024 campaign with a career-high 18 wins while leading the league in ERA (2.38) and strikeouts (235), making him the first pitcher since Clayton Kershaw in 2011 to capture an NL “Triple Crown.”
With a full season now under Crochet’s belt and no signs of a long-term deal coming from the White Sox, Crochet is set to become one of the hottest commodities for teams in need of starting pitching. He possesses two years of club control and plenty of additional upside for anyone willing to pay the price. Rumors are already ramping up as the left-handed ace will almost certainly be dealt during next month’s Winter Meetings.
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Featured Photo: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images
