Chicago White Sox: Three players who surprised big in first week

Carlos Rodon has been up and down ever since the White Sox made him a really high draft pick. They even released him and made him a free agent after the 2020 season didn’t go his way. They decided to give him another chance with a new contract that paid him a lot less than he would have made if they didn’t release him earlier in the offseason. He knew that he had to now come in and basically resurrect his career.

We knew that Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, Lance Lynn, and Dylan Cease were locks to be the top four in the rotation. They also made it clear that Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet were going to start the season in the bullpen. That left that final spot in the rotation to be won by either Carlos Rodon or Reynaldo Lopez. Rodon won it by being significantly better in spring training.

He made his first start of the season on Monday vs the Seattle Mariners and he was brilliant. It was fair to be worried about how it was going to go but he was awesome. He pitched five innings of scoreless baseball, had nine strikeouts, and a WHIP of 1.000. The White Sox won the game and he was a surprisingly great player for them in the first week of the season. A big year from Rodon could be the difference between 83 wins and 90 wins.