White Sox: Carlos Rodon Begins Important 2019 As Opening Day Starter

White Sox pitcher will make his first career Opening Day start against the Kansas City Royals to the surprise of not too many people.

Carlos Rodon has been healthy enough to last throughout Spring Training this year and will be rewarded with getting the nod as the White Sox Opening Day starter on March 28. Rodon will make his start on the road against the Kansas City Royals.

This is a big step for Rodon as he has started the previous two seasons late due to various injuries. For Rodon, beginning a season healthy is a good sign. The past two seasons, Rodon missed a lot of time and didn’t start any of his campaigns in 2017 or 2018 until after the start of June.

Entering this season, Rodon will be the ace of the White Sox and hopefully, he can realize his potential sooner rather than later. Rodon finished last season with a 6-8 record and 4.18 ERA in 20 starts. Other than his rookie season in 2015 when he went 9-6 with a 3.75 ERA, Rodon hasn’t finished a season with an ERA under 4.04 and has yet to reach double-digit wins in any year.

The 2019 season will be an important year for Rodon. If he’s able to live up to the potential the White Sox saw in him when they drafted him with the third overall pick of the 2015 MLB draft, it would be beneficial for the team’s pitching rotation. The Sox badly need a shutdown ace and haven’t had a true ace since trading Chris Sale after the 2016 season.

Dane Dunning has Tommy John Surgery

After experiencing elbow discomfort early in Spring Training, Sox pitching prospect Dane Dunning underwent Tommy John surgery and miss the 2019 season. Dunning had only pitched in 15 games last season with High-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham before being sidelined for the year due to an elbow sprain.

That same right elbow became problematic for Dunning as he will now join other Sox prospects such as Michael Kopech and Micker Adolfo in getting Tommy John surgery. Dunning’s progression through the Sox farm system will undoubtedly be slowed due to missing this season and some of 2020 while he rehabilitates.

This is why it’s very important for the Sox or any other team for that matter to have depth in their farm system, especially in regards to pitching. For Dunning’s sake, hopefully, he can regain his confidence once he’s ready to come back from surgery and work his way to pitch in MLB.