Chicago White Sox: Four guys who are competing for last two starter spots

The 2020 Chicago White Sox showed that they can score runs in bunches. They have so much talent in their starting lineup and should be able to keep that going for a long time. In fact, most of their guys are so young and improving. That is scary to think about because they are elite already and they haven’t even scratched the surface of what they can become.

As players like Luis Robert, Eloy Jimenez, Yoan Moncada, Nick Madrigal, and Andrew Vaughn amongst others get better, this team has no ceiling. They are going to score a lot of runs on most nights which will give them a chance to win on that alone. If you add in some elite pitching, we are talking about a legit World Series contender.

The top of the rotation as currently constructed is elite. Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, and Lance Lynn were all elite in 2020 and should form one of the best trios in the league. All three of them finished in the top seven of Cy Young voting in the American League in 2020. It was a really solid year for them and now they are going to be looking to take it even further.

That is really good for a 1-3 punch in a rotation. The thing that is a big question mark for this team is the fourth and fifth starter. They have four guys that are going to compete for that spot and all four of them have a legit shot. It will come down to who plays the best during spring training. Whoever misses out on the job should be coming out of the bullpen. Things can change as the season goes along but there should be a tentative decision by Opening Day. These are the four guys competing for those two spots:

Let’s be honest with ourselves. Michael Kopech is the most exciting player in the White Sox organization. People are scared to admit it because of everything that has gone on with him over the past two and a half years but it is the truth. His stuff is as electric as any player they have. He can make a 102 miles per hour fastball dance and bring the people out of their seats.

He is going into the season with a chance to be one of the five starters in the rotation. Based on the injuries and time off, it is fair to wonder if they will use him out of the bullpen at first or even give him a few starts in AAA. That could be what keeps him from being in this rotation on Opening Day but he will have the chance.

Spring training 2021 is huge for Kopech. He is going to use this time to get ready for what promises to be an extremely important year for him. He has all of the talents in the world but he has to go out there and use them. By the time it is all said and done, Kopech could be the ace of the staff.

Speaking of bringing someone back, it was very interesting when it came out that Carlos Rodon would in fact be coming to the White Sox in 2021. They declined his option earlier in the offseason which made sense but they ended up bringing him back anyway. He was a very high White Sox draft pick but hasn’t panned out as we thought he would.

It looked for a while like he was going to be the number three behind Chris Sale and Jose Quintana but we all know how that panned out. Then, it looked like he had a chance to be the ace of the staff long term but we also know how that panned out. A lot of guys have passed him by in the organization but you can never have enough starting pitching.

Because of his talent, he is getting another chance. Injuries had a lot to do with his struggles so you have to wonder how he would pitch in a healthy year. He claims that he signed because he was told he was signing as a starter but it is hard to see that being a guarantee. If Kopech is better than him, he should be starting instead. Nobody outside of the big three has the leash to just be guaranteed a spot right now, including Rodon.

If anyone of the four people on this list has a “better chance”, it is Dylan Cease. It seems pretty likely that he is going to be one of the guys who occupy one of the two final spots in the rotation. The way some of his teammates have been talking about him this season should really excite people who cheer on this organization. If he can have a Lucas Giolito like turnaround, this could be a really good pitcher. He was never even bad like Giolito was, he just wasn’t consistent.

Now, he has a very high ceiling. His stuff has always been there but his ability to throw strikes is something that he has needed to improve on since getting to the Major Leagues. In 2020, he started off very strong but his finish made the White Sox avoid starting him in game three of the playoffs when Giolito went first and Keuchel second. He had a 4.01 ERA and a record of 5-4. All of those numbers were improved from his rookie 2019 season.

He was a 0.1 WAR player so it isn’t like he was great but he certainly wasn’t negative. If he improves his command, he could be a very good pitcher. There are even people around that look at him like they look at Michael Kopech in the way that they could see him being an ace-like pitcher. If that happens, the White Sox could have one of the best rotations in the history of the team.

Cease is probably going to be one of the two who make it, leaving one spot for the other three. Anything can happen but it seems like a safe bet at this time. The one thing that we know for sure is that the ones who don’t make it should come out of the bullpen which adds to that strength as well. We knew the White Sox needed to improve their pitching this year and it seems like they have.