Chicago White Sox: Codi Heuer has magical stuff when he’s on
The Chicago White Sox went into the season with a bullpen advertised as one of the best. Some fans may have turned on them because of struggles from time to time but they have been good enough to help the team to a first-place record late in June. If it were that bad, they wouldn’t be in this position and that is a fact. One player who has had his ups and downs is Codi Heuer. The fact about Codi Heuer is that he can be absolutely magnificent when his stuff is on.
The Chicago White Sox needs Codi Heuer to be at his best all of the time.
Few relievers in the White Sox bullpen are as gifted as Heuer. You can say Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet but they are only in the bullpen to eventually become starters. Liam Hendriks and Aaron Bummer are about as talented as Heuer is when all three are on their game. It is all about the pure stuff and learning how to control it and use it to your advantage.
You can tell that Heuer is filthy just by looking at his strikeout to walk percentage. He has 31 strikeouts on the season and four walks. That is a very good ratio. So, why does he had an ERA over 5? The answer is simple. He gets behind in counts a lot and forced to throw hittable pitches. His WHIP is 1.433 which is very high. With only four walks contributing to that, you know his hit count is way too high. He has given up the same number (4) of home runs as he has walks.
If Heuer can figure out a way to start getting ahead in the count more than behind, he will then increase his strikeout total even more which should lower his ERA and make him an even more effective reliever. The good news is that Tony La Russa keeps putting him out there to try and find his way again. Some fans might not like it but that is really good for a young pitcher like this.
When you throw as hard as he does with the wipeout pitch that he can produce, you just have to keep going out there and trying it out. He has the stuff to be one of the more impactful middle relievers in this bullpen.
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Remember, Michael Kopech and Garrett Crochet may both end up being starters which will create more of a need for a guy like Heuer to be elite. If you can go from the starter to Heuer, to Bummer, to Hendriks, you have a chance to win the baseball game. Hopefully, we see him start to really start controlling his nasty stuff.