CHICAGO ¨C The latest round of Trade Deadline-related questions came Garrett Crochet's way following a 6-3 White Sox loss to the Mariners on Sunday at Guaranteed Rate Field, marking the South Siders¡¯ 14th straight setback and 10th straight since the All-Star break.

With the 5 p.m. CT Deadline on July 30 fast approaching, the reporters¡¯ inquiries for the well-spoken left-hander included the following:

¡°Have you been worn out by my questions, some others, about this going on for the last month? Does it get to you to the point where you just have to block it out?¡±

It¡¯s a fair question for arguably the most dominant starting pitcher through the first half of the 2024 season, an ultra-talented 25-year-old with two years of arbitration control remaining after the current campaign in his first season as a starter. Crochet paused for a few seconds and then answered succinctly:

¡°Yes.¡±

That response drew a large laugh from the 10-or-so media members in attendance, and it¡¯s one of the few moments to really smile for the White Sox over the last couple of weeks. Their record sits at 27-81, equaling a franchise-worst 54 games under .500 -- set when they were 46-100 in 1932. They became the fourth team in Major League history to lose 81-plus times in the first 108 games of a season, and the first since the 1932 Red Sox (26-82).

Seattle (56-51) completed the 16th sweep of the White Sox overall, the 15th sweep of three-plus games and the eighth at home. So, while there¡¯s understandable focus on Tuesday, it¡¯s hard to avoid the ongoing issues attached to this season.

¡°We¡¯re out here trying to compete,¡± said third baseman Paul DeJong, who launched his team-high 18th home run in the setback. ¡°We¡¯re trying to win games. Everybody¡¯s preparing the right way, it¡¯s just not going our way. We¡¯ve got to do the little things better, myself included.¡±

¡°There¡¯s really nothing to be said about it. It¡¯s terrible,¡± said Crochet, who echoed DeJong¡¯s sentiment about the team competing but just not winning. ¡°Everyone in the clubhouse, we¡¯re all pretty let down with how we¡¯ve been playing throughout the season. But when you have stretches like this, yeah, it sucks.¡±

Crochet worked three innings and threw 64 pitches, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits with three strikeouts and one walk. Two errors from DeJong in the third produced a pair of unearned runs, but Crochet also was tagged by a Cal Raleigh home run in the first.

Statcast showed Crochet¡¯s average four-seam fastball at 97.7 mph, up from his season average of 97 mph. His average velocity on the cutter also was up 1.1 mph. Crochet has thrown four innings, two innings, four innings and three innings, respectively, in his four July starts, bringing his career-high single-season innings total to 114 1/3, to go with 160 strikeouts. And he still feels strong.

¡°Yeah, like I¡¯m still picking up steam,¡± Crochet said. ¡°I feel like my stuff was great today. I just kind of had mixed results, positives and negatives. I feel really good with where I¡¯m at. Felt like I did a good job inducing weak contact following the two-run homer. Just one of those days they had a good plan.¡±

What¡¯s next for Crochet will play out over the next day or so. Even if he¡¯s not traded by the Deadline, the White Sox could explore moving the coveted starter again in the offseason.

Remember, though, Crochet is a valuable piece to any team including the White Sox. They could build around him at the top of the White Sox rotation, but the decision for general manager Chris Getz and his front office centers around Chicago actually being competitive in the next two seasons and the possibility of extending Crochet vs. maximizing the return value via a trade.

¡°The team that drafts you and gives you your first taste of the big leagues will always be special,¡± said Crochet, who added that focusing on his routine has prevented the trade talks from becoming a distraction.

White Sox teammates wholeheartedly stand behind Crochet, including after the Jon Heyman report coming this week about his desire to remain a starter the rest of the season which the White Sox have planned, and wanting a contract extension to extend his workload and pitch in the postseason. Crochet declined comment on that report Friday.

¡°I think what he said about his demands is fair for a person in his situation who hasn¡¯t thrown a lot of innings,¡± DeJong said. ¡°He¡¯s trying to protect his health and his career and we support him.¡±