White Sox Should Bring 2020 Top Pick Garrett Crochet to MLB Immediately After Signing Him

On Monday, several reports confirmed that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred is planning to institute a 60-game regular season that will start in late July.

The truncated campaign means that the race for the playoffs will be wide open, and we wouldn't at all be surprised if the Chicago White Sox managed to sneak into contention. The club showed promise last year despite finishing 17 games below .500, and it projects to take a significant step forward in 2020.

What will help the White Sox' push for the postseason? Promoting first-round draft pick Garrett Crochet to their MLB roster now that they have signed him to a minor league contract.

At 6-6 and 218-pounds, Crochet has an absolutely cannon of a left arm. He regularly pumps his fastball in the upper 90s and controls it exceptionally well for a raw pitcher. Speaking of which, his change up and slider need some work, but both are effective enough to fool big league hitters sitting on his heater.

The White Sox likely drafted the 21-year-old southpaw to be a starter down the line, but we see no reason as to why he couldn't be deployed as a reliever from Day 1. Chicago ranked 15th in MLB last season with a 4.33 bullpen ERA and the team will need drastically improve in that department if it has any hope of sniffing the playoffs this year.

We're not asking the White Sox to rush the development of their No. 11 overall pick, either. That would be asinine. However, Crochet obviously wouldn't feature very often, so there would be next to no risk in asking him to come out of the bullpen in a limited role as a rookie.