How White Sox's Grady Sizemore plans to spoil Tigers' postseason bid
09/25/2024 07:28 PM
The only thing the Chicago White Sox have left to play for this season is whether or not they will set the post-1900 record for most losses in a single season. But, that does not mean that they are not going to try their absolute best to potentially prevent one of their division rivals from making the postseason.
Speaking to the media ahead of Wednesday’s game against the Los Angeles Angels, White Sox interim manager Grady Sizemore explained his decision to push back All-Star Garrett Crochet’s final appearance of the regular season in order to have him face the Detroit Tigers per Scott Merkin of MLB.com.
“With Detroit where they're at, I think it's gonna make for good baseball,” Sizemore said. “They're gonna be competing for a playoff spot. We wanna throw our best guy up against this team that's fighting for a playoff spot. These are our rivals.”
Crochet was initially projected to start Thursday against the Angels. However, Sizemore’s decision to push Crochet back will give his team the best chance to beat the Tigers, one of their rivals in the AL Central, and potentially prevent them from making the postseason.
The Tigers are currently tied with the Kansas City Royals for the final American League Wild Card position, with the Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners both two games back and the Boston Red Sox 3 1/2 games back. Things are looking good as of now for the Tigers, with FanGraphs projecting them to have an 87.1% chance to make the postseason. However, that final series against the White Sox could be crucial, and facing Crochet is never an easy task. That could very well be the difference for the Tigers if the Twins, Mariners or Red Sox make a push.
Garrett Crochet’s 2024 season with the White Sox
There is a reason why Sizemore believes Crochet is his best chance to get a win against the postseason-hopeful Tigers. Despite having just a 6-12 record, Crochet has a 3.68 ERA, 203 strikeouts and a ridiculous 12.9 SO/9. Crochet was subject to numerous trade rumors earlier in the season, but ended up remaining in Chicago after he made it clear that he would not pitch in the postseason unless the team that traded for him signed him to a contract extension.
In a historically awful season for the White Sox, Crochet has been one of the few positives. Crochet will have one more chance this season, and will now be able to try and play spoiler for a division rival.
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