White Sox: Young Pitchers Could Become Force on Mound in Future
White Sox pitching set up nicely for the future with young studs currently in rotation, other pitching prospects still in the minors.
The Chicago White Sox have historically done a good job in developing pitchers. From Mark Buehrle, to Chris Sale, the Sox have shown they can develop quality pitchers at the major league level. Now, the team has a bevy of young pitchers ready to prove their worth.
As the Sox enter their second rebuilding season in 2018, the team will have a young starting rotation. The Sox ended 2017 with a rotation featuring Lucas Giolito, Carlos Rodon, Reynaldo Lopez, Carson Fulmer and James Shields. Shields has the most major league experience of this group, but he won’t be around when the team is ready to contend in a few years.
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With a young rotation for next season, the Sox will be able to evaluate each pitcher over the course of a full year with the possible exception of Rodon due to injury. Gioito, Lopez and Fulmer each had nice starts to end their 2017 campaigns. Fulmer rebounded nicely from a horrendous first MLB start while Giolito flashed ace potential.
The Sox are waiting on the arrival of other pitching prospects in Michael Kopech and Alec Hansen. Hansen and Kopech both had solid outings to end their 2017 season in the minors and should inch much closer to the majors in 2018. Kopech is closest to the major leagues as he should start next year where he finished in 2017, in Triple-A.
While the Sox aren’t expected to contend in 2018, they will continue to build on what could be a promising future. The Sox have benefitted before from having a strong starting rotation. In 2005, the Sox had one of the better pitching staffs in MLB and saw their pitchers pitch four consecutive complete games in the ALCS.
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With the young talented arms in the majors and minor leagues, the Sox could have one of the better starting rotations in a just a few years. Anything can happen as history has shown, but the Sox have also proven to develop quality starting pitching. If the Sox pitchers can stay healthy and continue to develop, this could become a historically good rotation.