The performances speak for themselves.
The makeup and intangibles are something else.
Just ask manager Pedro Grifol about left-hander Garrett Crochet (3.25 ERA), whose three runs allowed over six innings in the White Sox’ 4-1 loss to the Astros on Wednesday rated as subpar by his high standards.
“Strong-minded, winner, team-first mentality, talent, work ethic, character, integrity,” Grifol said. “This guy’s not only a great baseball player, great pitcher, but a great person and a great teammate. He’s a guy you want to be in a foxhole with, for sure.
“Everything he’s got — his whole makeup, his whole arsenal — just screams No. 1 [starter] for a long, long time.”
Opposed by right-hander Hunter Brown, whose 16-inning scoreless streak was snapped by Andrew Benintendi’s fifth home run, Crochet (6-6) allowed nine hits, walked one and struck out eight but gave up more than two runs for the first time in 10 starts.
“Probably three pitches I’d want to take back,” said Crochet, who got 19 swings-and-misses throwing four-seam fastballs and cutters on 80 of his 85 pitches. “But other than that, I felt like I executed my plan.”
The Astros (34-40) scored once in the third, fourth and sixth innings against Crochet and once in the eighth against Steven Wilson.
The Sox (20-55), who have lost 25 of their last 31 games, were 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Lee’s game-calling
Martin Maldonado’s game-calling and handling of pitchers have been cited as big reasons why he has caught so many games, but Korey Lee is getting assurances from Grifol and pitchers that he’s filling the bill, too.
“It’s coming along,” Lee said. “Every day I learn something new, whether it’s pitch-sequencing, communicating with the pitcher. Just the confidence in the game-calling, knowing our pitchers and what we have to do.”
Lee caught Jonathan Cannon’s last two starts with his four-pitch mix, guiding him through 15„ innings of one-run ball, and Crochet’s 13-strikeout performance with one run allowed in seven innings last Thursday. He handled Crochet again Wednesday.
Hot and cold
Andrew Vaughn is hitting .329/.364/.575 with five homers, 15 RBI and a .939 OPS over 18 games, raising his average from .195 to .235 since May 26.
“Kudos to him; he just never stopped working,” hitting coach Marcus Thames said. “We made some smaller mechanical adjustments, getting him shorter to the baseball. . . . The chases went down, and he’s hitting the ball hard.”
Luis Robert Jr. is 9-for-49 with 22 strikeouts in 14 games since coming off the injured list. Five of the hits were home runs. He had two singles Wednesday.
“He’s still trying to get his timing back,” Thames said. “He has to control the strike zone a little more. He’s trying to chase time he missed instead of being in the present and trying to have good ABs.”
Boos OK with Grifol
Grifol was booed by fans who had been on their feet supporting Cannon’s bid for a shutout Tuesday. Cannon was pulled after allowing two singles with two outs and running his pitch count to 106. John Brebbia finished a 2-0 victory over the Astros.
“I took it as these are great fans that wanted to see something special,” Grifol said. “I wanted to see something special. I actually enjoyed getting booed on that because it was a special moment we were all watching.”