Chad Green Is Finalist For Comeback Player Of The Year

Chad Green, a graduate of Effingham High School, has been making his name known in Major League Baseball.

Along with his pitching, Green went through Tommy John surgery in 2022 when he was throwing for the New York Yankees. He signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in the following off-season where he rehabbed his arm and returned to pitching in September of 2023.

This past seasom, Green finshed with a 3.21 ERA in 53.1 innings for the Blue Jays and recorded a team-high 17 saves. He also had 46 strikeouts.

Green took over as the full-time reliever in late June and through the end of August, he had a 1.67 ERA and 14 saves over 27 innings.

In saying all this, Green is in the running for the American League Comeback Player award.

The others nominated for the award are Chicago White Sox starter Garrett Crochet and Boston Red Sox and Canadian outfielder Tyler O'Neill.

Crochet missed the entire 2022 season due to Tommy John surgery and made just 13 appearances in 2023. Then in 2024, the southpaw completed his first full season as a starter and earned All-Star honors after a strong first half in which he led all of Major League Baseball in strikeouts (150), K/9 (12.6), and fWAR (3.9). He finished the season with a 3.58 ERA and 209 strikeouts.

O'Neill endured back-to-back, injury-plagued seasons in 2022 and 2023.

After being traded to the Red Sox in the off-season, O'Neill set a Major League Baseball record by hitting a homer in his fifth straight opening day. He finished with 31 homers on the year and had an OPS of .847.

O'Neill has had, just this season, injuries to a finger, leg, knee twice and head.