White Sox Opening Day roster starting to take shape

The Chicago White Sox Opening Day roster is beginning to take shape after another wave of roster cuts left the White Sox roster at just 31 players, with three games remaining in the Cactus League schedule.

The White Sox will be taking 12 pitchers, and 13 position players with them to Oakland for Opening Day, that was confirmed by Robin Ventura as well as pitching coach Don Cooper on Tuesday afternoon. Here’s how the 25 man roster will most likely look like on Opening Day.

Pitchers

1. Chris Sale – SP
2. Jose Quintana – SP
3. Carlos Rodon – SP
4. Mat Latos – SP
5. John Danks – SP
6. Dan Jennings – RP
7. Zach Putnam – RP
8. Matt Albers – RP
9. Jake Petricka – RP
10. Zach Duke – RP
11. Nate Jones – RP
12. David Robertson – CP

Position Players

1. Alex Avila – C
2. Dioner Navarro – C
3. Jose Abreu – 1B
4. Travis Ishikawa – 1B
5. Brett Lawrie – 2B
6. Jimmy Rollins – SS
7. Tyler Saladino – SS
8. Todd Frazier – 3B
9. Melky Cabrera – OF
10. Austin Jackson – OF
11. Adam Eaton – OF
12. Avisail Garcia – OF
13. J.B. Shuck – OF

Travis Ishikawa being a first-baseman by position will give him the edge over outfielder/first-baseman Jerry Sands in the battle for the final roster spot this week. While I’m confident that Sands could play first base effectively behind Abreu, I think that already having five outfielders on the roster will force Robin Ventura to go with Ishikawa as the back-up first-baseman.

I can also see the White Sox going with reliever Scott Carrol over Dan Jennings, given that Carrol gives them another pitcher with the ability to start games when needed without making roster moves. Ultimately I think that they will break with Jennings, and dip into the minors if they need a spot starter for a game or two in April.

The Roster is all but official at this point, this is your 2016 Chicago White Sox as you will see them come Monday night in Oakland.