Garrett Crochet chuckled Wednesday when he was asked what he remembered about his last start outside of a Cactus League game this spring, which came in 2020 while he was playing college baseball at Tennessee.
“Not a whole lot, to be honest with you,” Crochet said. “I feel like I’ve grown a lot as a pitcher and as a person since then so for me, it’s just going out and pitching.
“It’s not really starting versus relieving, it’s going out and being myself.”
After 72 big-league relief outings, Crochet made his first major-league start in Thursday’s season opener against the Detroit Tigers.
The 24-year-old left-hander showed poise in his six innings of work, allowing one run on five hits in the 1-0 loss in front of 33,420 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Crochet struck out eight — a career-high for an outing — while not allowing a walk. He also reached a career-high in innings for a game.
While Crochet shined, the bats were cold on opening day as the Tigers limited the Sox to three hits.
Crochet entered spring wanting to make the move from the bullpen to the rotation. He had a dazzling camp, not only earning the spot in the rotation but also the opening-day nod.
Photos: Opening day for Chicago White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field
Crochet’s road to Thursday began in 2020, when the Sox selected him in the first round of the truncated MLB draft. He joined the big-league team down the stretch of the pandemic-shortened season and remained a fixture in the bullpen in 2021.
Crochet missed 2022 after undergoing Tommy John surgery and was limited to 13 outings last season, dealing at times with left shoulder inflammation.
He had conversations with general manager Chris Getz during the offseason and expressed interest in starting.
“It was a really healthy dialogue,” Getz said Wednesday. “I asked him, ‘At this stage of your career, which direction do you want to go?’ And it was very clear that he wanted to see if he could be a starter.”
He had a 2.13 ERA and 14 strikeouts in his five spring outings (two starts). The opening-day role became available after the Sox traded ace Dylan Cease to the San Diego Padres.
Crochet was sharp from the beginning Thursday, striking out two during a 1-2-3 first inning.
His second inning started with another strikeout.
The only run he allowed came in the third. Javier Báez singled, stole second base, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Andy Ibáñez.
Crochet had at least one strikeout in each of his six innings, including two in the first and fourth. His day ended after striking out Matt Vierling looking to end the sixth inning.
Sox hitters had even less success against Tigers starter Tarik Skubal. The left-hander pitched six scoreless innings, allowing three hits — singles by Luis Robert Jr., Andrew Vaughn and Eloy Jiménez.
Skubal had six strikeouts and no walks. The Sox didn’t have a hit in the final five innings, as Crochet’s strong outing went to waste.
