KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The 2020 Major League Baseball regular season is complete, and the postseason is set to begin this afternoon when the Minnesota Twins host the Houston Astros at 2 p.m.
Two former Vols will be competing in the postseason this year. Rookie phenom Garrett Crochet and the Chicago White Sox will take on the Oakland Athletics in the American League Wild Card round while Nick Senzel and the Cincinnati Reds will battle the Atlanta Braves in the National League Wild Card round.
Below are updates on how Crochet, Senzel and other former Vols performed throughout the 2020 regular season.
Garrett Crochet — LHP, Chicago White Sox
Season: 5 App, 0 GS, 0-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 8 K, 0.50 WHIP
Crochet has made an immediate impact and has been a force out of the bullpen since being added to the White Sox roster a few weeks ago. The hard-throwing lefty has gotten off to one of the most impressive starts to a major league career in recent memory, allowing just three hits in six shutout innings.
The Mississippi native recorded his first multi-inning performance of the season on Saturday in a 9-5 win over the crosstown rival Cubs, striking out three batters in two shutout innings of relief.
In his six innings pitched this season, 81.2 percent of Crochet’s pitches (69 of 85) had a velocity of 99 mph or faster, which was the highest percentage of 99+ mph pitches by anyone in the pitch-tracking era (since 2008) with a minimum of 50 total pitches. The next highest was 73.3 percent by Henry Rodriguez in 2009.
Chicago enters the postseason as the No. 7 seed in the American League. Game one of the White Six AL Wild Card series against the No. 2 seed Oakland Athletics will be today at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Zack Godley — RHP, Boston Red Sox
Season: 8 App, 7 GS, 0-4, 8.16 ERA, 28.2 IP, 42 H, 26 R, 26 ER, 14 BB, 28 K, 1.95 WHIP
Despite a promising start to the year, Godley had a challenging season for a struggling Red Sox team that finished with one of the worst records in baseball. In his most recent outing, Godley have up four runs on five hits in three innings of work in a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays (Sept. 4). He was placed on the 60-day injured list on Sept. 19.
Yan Gomes — C, Washington Nationals
Season: 30 G, 109 AB, 14 R, 31 H, 51 TB, 6 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 13 RBI, 6 BB, 22 K, 1 SB, .284 AVG, .319 OBP, .468 SLG
Despite getting off to a slow start, Gomes was able to put together an impressive year at the plate for the Nationals, finishing third on the team in batting average (.284) among players with 16 or more games played.
Gomes finished the year with hits in four of his final five games, including a pair of multi-hit performances. He went 3-for-3 in a 4-3 win over the Mets on Sept. 26 and finished the year by blasting a two-run homer and scoring two runs in a 15-5 drubbing of the Mets on Sunday.
Nick Senzel — OF, Cincinnati Reds
Season: 23 G, 70 AB, 8 R, 13 H, 25 TB, 6 2B, 0 3B, 2 HR, 8 RBI, 6 BB, 15 K, 2 SB, .186 AVG, .247 OBP, .357 SLG
Senzel has struggled since returning from a month-long stint on the injured list. In his nine games since returning from injury, Senzel has recorded just two hits and scored one run.
The Knoxville native will get a chance to wipe the slate clean as the No. 7 seed Reds prepare to take on the No. 2 seed Atlanta Braves in the NL Wild Card. First pitch for game one of the series is slated for noon Wednesday on ESPN.
Drew Steckenrider — RHP, Miami Marlins
Season: N/A
On July 23, Steckenrider was placed on the 60-day injured list with right triceps tendonitis and has not seen action this season.
The Marlins enter the postseason as the No. 6 seed in the National League and will take on the No. 3 seed Chicago Cubs in the NL Wild Card round. Game one of the series is scheduled to start on Wednesday at 2 p.m. on ABC.
Christian Stewart — OF, Detroit Tigers
Season: 36 G, 90 AB, 6 R, 15 H, 27 TB, 3 2B, 0 3B, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 5 BB, 30 K, .167 AVG, .224 OBP, .300 SLG
After struggling in August, Stewart had a strong start to the month of September with hits in three straight games, including his third homer of the year in Detroit’s 12-1 win over Milwaukee on Sept. 1. However, Stewart did not record a hit in his next five games before snapping his hitless streak with a single against Kansas City on Sept. 25.
-UT Athletics
