Just in: Yankees sign in the long awaited mega star in a blockbuster deal.

It looks likely that the fireballing lefty will be moved by the White Sox at the deadline. Is it headed toward New York?

A plethora of players that can provide a contender an edge are available at the MLB Trade Deadline each year. An experienced bat off the bench; a left-handed middle reliever with excellent platoon splits; a versatile infielder with terrific speed. Although these athletes don’t make the news, in October they could have an impact.

However, one or two players eventually make it to the block and grab the attention of both fans and talking heads. Players who have the capacity to drastically change a team’s short-term results; players who have the ability to turn a team’s shortcomings into strengths.

One name has drawn more attention than any other as the Trade Deadline for this season draws near: Garrett Crochet. The White Sox are likely to make almost everyone available for the proper price, given their current situation. Among the most captivating stories of the season has been the 25-year-old phenomenon’s quick rise to the top of the sport.

With his opening pitch of the season, Crochet created history. He had made 72 big-league appearances before the start of the season, all as a reliever. He had demonstrated glimpses of the ability that landed him in the first round of the 2020 draft, frequently exceeding 100 mph on the radar gun. Nevertheless, Crochet’s ascent was impeded by a torn UCL that necessitated Tommy John surgery and kept him out of the game for the majority of the 22 and 23 seasons, as has become typical for the most dynamic pitchers in the league.

Therefore, Crochet’s decision to start his first professional game on Opening Day this year came as a bit of a surprise, even to him, who described himself as “extremely shocked, to put it mildly.” Since 1901, the year of the team’s initial major-league debut, no White Sox pitcher had started his first Opening Day since 1901. In a foreshadowing of things to come, the hard-throwing southpaw performed admirably, striking out eight Tigers.

In a sport where strikeouts are the only statistic that matters, Crochet has become the leading strikeout pitcher very rapidly. With 150 strikeouts and 12.6 strikeouts per nine, he leads MLB, which contributes to his 2.36 FIP, which is the highest in the AL. Despite pitching in front of a poor defense that has cost the White Sox 47 runs this season by Defensive Runs Saved, by far the worst in MLB, Crochet’s punchout ability has helped him to a respectable 3.02 ERA.

Crochet’s fastballs have been a major factor in his success. Since switching to the rotation, he has lost a few miles per hour on his four-seamer, but it still averages 97, and he has demonstrated the capacity to raise it somewhat when necessary.

With a pitching strike percentage of above 50%, Crochet has limited opponents to a.188 batting average when facing him. This season, the lefty added a cutter as an additional pitch. With a low 90s exit velocity, the cutter has emerged as his go-to put-away pitch. It is especially useful in containing other lefties, who are only hitting.095 against it. Though he mostly throws the cutter or four-seamer, Crochet still mixes in a slider, which has an amazing 14.6 inches of horizontal break (nine more than the average MLB slider), and a changeup that he only uses against righties.