From the Locker Room: "I Just Get Outs When They Ask Me"
There's one thing you already know about Garrett Crochet, in just his first few games in the big leagues: He is the hardest-thrower in baseball.
One thing you might not yet realize, as he is still new to the team, is how charming his straightforward and honest answers are—evident in watching my very first question to him above, which asked what it meant to him to know that the defenders (in this case, Yoán Moncada, who just gave us the quote earlier in the postgame) basically saw him as an automatic 1-2-3 inning.
"That’s a big boost of confidence," he grinned, modestly. "Having the trust of my teammates contributes to my confidence, and winning ballgames."
Later, when it's mentioned to Crochet that he has quickly dominated the 100 mph pitching leaderboards, as more often than not his fastball trips into triple-digits, he expressed some surprise and wonder.
"That's definitely cool to hear," Crochet smiled. "I was never the guy who threw hard growing up, and now I do. I'm just trying to throw with conviction, and it’s working out right now."
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Garrett Crochet footage courtesy of the Chicago White Sox.
Actor (final credit: murdered by Albert Einstein in "Carnage Hall"), musician (Ethnocentric Republicans), and Nerf hoops champion, Wiffleball aficionado and onetime bilingual kindergarten teacher, Brett Ballantini also writes about baseball, basketball and sometimes hockey, for the NBA, MLB, NHL, and Slam, Hoop, Sporting News, the Athletic, SB Nation and others. He was CSN Chicago’s Blackhawks beat writer when their 49-year Stanley Cup drought ended in 2009-10, and took over the White Sox beat after that. He currently is the editor-in-chief of South Side Hit Pen and beat writer for Inside the Rays. He also wrote a book about Ozzie Guillén but is running out of space, so follow him on Twitter @BrettBallantini and he'll probably tell you even more about himself than you ever wanted to know.