By CURTIS ROCKWELL/Sports Director

For the second straight season, the “Southern Six” will have a southpaw starting pitcher on display in the prestigious Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
Former Ocean Springs standout Garrett Crochet, a member of the Chicago White Sox, was selected to the pitching staff of the American League Team Sunday afternoon. It marked the first time Crochet had earned that honor.
Last season, George County’s Justin Steele was a member of the National League squad with the Chicago Cubs.
Crochett went from a reliever in the White Sox organization to the opening day starter and now to All-Star status. The 2024 MLB All-Star Game will take place on Tuesday, July 16th, at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas home of the reigning World Series champions Texas Rangers.

“I know it’s been said a lot, but going back to Spring Training and thinking I was going to start the year in [Triple-A] Charlotte and building up my innings,” Crochet told reporters following the White Sox’ 7-4 road loss to the Miami Marlins Sunday afternoon. “Then to knowing I made the rotation to knowing it was going to be Opening Day. You know, having it culminate in being an All-Star is a really cool feeling.”

Crochet currently leads the Majors with 146 strikeouts, just ahead of the Dodgers’ Tyler Glasnow (143) who is also an All-Star. Despite his team being 40 games under .500, Crochet has a 6-6 record with a 3.08 ERA and just 23 walks over what is by far a career-high 105 1/3 innings pitched.
Since April 24, when Crochet’s ERA sat at 6.37, he has gone 5-2 with a sparkling 1.78 ERA. He has 106 strikeouts with just 15 walks over 75 2/3 innings across his 13 starts in that time.
“In an industry where everyone thought he was a reliever, he thought he was a starter,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol Grifol said. “Now he’s probably one of the top five starters in the game, and not only is he a starter, he’s an All-Star.
“Credit goes to him, our pitching guys and everybody that’s been a part of him getting to this point. I’m really proud of him.”

After earning All-State honors at Ocean Springs, Crochett signed with the University of Tennessee. And Crochet made the most of his three years at Tennessee, where he blossomed from a 6-2, 185-pound lanky lefty into a 6-6, 230-pound fireballing hurler with a 100-mph fastball and a nasty slider.
Over his three seasons in Knoxville, Crochet compiled a 10-9 record, with a 4.64 ERA and 149 strikeouts in 132 innings. Early in his collegiate career, Crochet struggled somewhat with control, but some adjustments to his mechanics, coupled with the addition of the slider, began to grab the attention of MLB scouts.
He was drafted by the White Sox with the 11th overall in the 2020 MLB Amateur Baseball Draft, and reached the majors for a few appearances but also suffered a major injury as well.
Now, he’s considered one of the top baseball players in the world with a chance to pitch in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.
“I could give up five homers and I don’t really care,” Crochet concluded. “It is what it is. Just excited to put the jersey on and kind of go through all the festivities.”