White Sox add Dave Duncan as Pitching Consultant

KANSAS CITY, MO - JULY 10: St. Louis Cardinals hitting coach Mark McGwire and and former Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan watch during the 83rd MLB All-Star Game at Kauffman Stadium on July 10, 2012 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
KANSAS CITY, MO - JULY 10: St. Louis Cardinals hitting coach Mark McGwire and and former Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan watch during the 83rd MLB All-Star Game at Kauffman Stadium on July 10, 2012 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

The White Sox hired Dave Duncan as a pitching consultant. Duncan was the Cardinals pitching coach from 1996-2011.

Pitching is arguably the most important position in baseball. And the Chicago White Sox want to make sure they give their young hurlers every chance to succeed. So they went out and got another pitching coach. As Scott Merkin tweets, the organization has hired Dave Duncan as a pitching consultant. Duncan was the St. Louis Cardinals pitching coach from 1996-2011.

During that span St. Louis won two World Series (2006, 2011) and typically had one of the better pitching staffs in baseball. The 72-year-old is regarded as a top-notch pitching coach. Pair him with Don Cooper and the Sox have some of the best pitching minds in baseball.

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This is clearly a move designed to help all the young pitching talent this team has amassed. Cooper does a great job but it doesn’t hurt to have another pitching expert. Rick Hahn has invested a lot in young pitching and probably doesn’t want to see that go to waste. It will be interesting to see what type of impact Duncan has on this pitching staff.

Cooper and Duncan will definitely have work to do. They have Carlos Rodon hopefully returning from injury plus a trio of young pitchers [Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito, and Carson Fulmer] eager to prove their worth this season. There is also someone named Michael Kopech, the top right-handed pitching prospect for the Sox lurking in the minors. The future of the team hinges on the ability of all these guys to succeed at the majors.

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Bottom line, this is a good hire and one that should pay dividends. Duncan did a great job in his tenure with the Cardinals. Hopefully, he can work some magic with the White Sox and help make them one of the best pitching staffs in baseball.