The Chicago White Sox got a rare win with a starting pitcher that was not Garrett Crochet or Erick Fedde last night.
Rookie Jonathan Cannon was amazing as he almost pulled off a complete game shutout of the Houston Astros. He will have to settle for an 8.2 innings shutout victory instead.
Cannon was not perfect out there as he allowed seven hits, but he did what any good pitcher does and that is get out of jams. Cannon's three recent appearances since returning from Triple-A have him on a trajectory toward being a good pitcher.
White Sox beat the Astros, 2-0
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) June 19, 2024
Jonathan Cannon had a 7.24 ERA when he was optioned at the end of April. He's allowed one run in 18 2/3 innings since being recalled, falling an out short of a nine inning shutout tonight
Sox are 20-54
You compare that to what Garrett Crochet has done so far during his first full season as a starter and it looks very similar. Both had amazing debuts, both ran into some struggles and now both are incredible hot streaks. Crochet has pitched well enough to prove he is a stud on the mound.
Cannon's size combined with the arm angle he throws at along with the arsenal of pitches he can deploy gives him a shot to be a stud too.
At the very least he has given the White Sox 18.2 innings of hope after the first 13.2 innings he pitched was a bit concerning.
He gave up 11 earned runs over his first three career starts and was sent back to the minors. At least his return has provided hope.
Cannon worked on getting better at facing left-handed hitters after he was sent back to Triple-A Charlotte. The league had tape on him after his first career MLB start and made the appropriate adjustments.
He should have been afforded the chance to adjust at the big-league level since this is a lost season. Since the front office foolishly thinks Mike Clevinger has value, he was not given that opportunity. At least, he has been better against lefties (and righties) since coming back up and that is a sign he can adjust to the adjustments made to him.
There is speculation that Crochet could be traded by the deadline. A better idea would be to extend Crochet and build the next good rotation around Garrett and Jonathan. The Sox can then fill out the rest of the rotation with the exciting young pitching prospects the Sox have in the farm system.
Alas, what might happen is the front office uses Cannon's recent strong outings as building a belief the Sox could build a rotation around him since he has more contract control. The soonest the White Sox could even remotely be competitive is 2026 (they need everything to develop correctly for that to happen), that will be the last year of club control the Sox have with Crochet.
Since the organization does not pay pitchers, there is a good chance the White Sox could trade Crochet instead of developing two pocket aces.
Cannon must string together some more quality starts to show he can be a good pitcher in the majors. At least for now, his progress provides hope in a dismal season.