Chicago White Sox: Dane Dunning is returning to face old team
Lance Lynn has been amazing for the Chicago White Sox. They needed a veteran stud like that in the middle-top of their rotation to go with Lucas Giolito and Dallas Keuchel. They did have to give up Dane Dunning to the Texas Rangers in order to get him. Dunning has had a really nice start for the Texas Rangers so far and deserves a lot of credit for that. The White Sox didn’t give up on him, you just have to give up nice young places to get elite veterans in pro sports.
Dane Dunning is going to face the Chicago White Sox for the first time.
Dunning earned some MLB experience last season. It was a crazy season that was shortened to 60-games but Dunning made the most of it. Now, he is going to return to Guaranteed Rate Field to face the White Sox for the first time. It is a really nice opportunity for him to keep up his hot start against his old team.
In three game starts so far this season, Dunning has a 1-0 record, 0.60 ERA, 0.800 WHIP, and 16 strikeouts over 15 innings. He is only averaging five innings per start but that is fine for a 26-year-old in his first full MLB season. All of that has him at a 0.9 WAR just three starts in. He is a late bloomer that also needed Tommy John a few years back but the Rangers should be very confident in him going forward.
Dunning is going to be one of those guys that the White Sox fans cheer on when he isn’t playing their team. He worked really hard to get to where he is so he deserves respect. We can only hope that Lance Lynn comes back for more after one year but they needed to take the chance in 2021. It could very well pay off down the line.
Most of the hitters in the White Sox lineup should have a few tricks up their sleeve when it comes to attacking Dunning’s pitches. He is a right-handed pitcher so the righty-heavy Sox lineup doesn’t match up as well as it does against lefties but they can still hit anyone pretty good on their good days.
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Expect Jose Abreu (very good against righties) to lead the charge. If he keeps his bat hot, the rest of the team will follow. It feels like it is either going to be a really good day for Dunning or a really bad day. There isn’t much of an in-between.