White Sox left-hander Carlos Rodon, who opened the season on the disabled list due to bursitis in his left biceps, is currently on a throwing program and could be back with the team within five to six weeks, barring setbacks, general manager Rick Hahn tells Scot Gregor of the Daily Herald (Twitter link). While it was known that Rodon would open the season on the shelf, there’s yet to be much of an indication as to how long of a recovery timeline Rodon would face.
Suffice it to say, an absence of five to six weeks representing a seemingly best-case scenario isn’t ideal news for the South Siders, though the 2017 season is a rebuilding year for the Sox anyhow. Nonetheless, Rodon’s injury shorts one of the White Sox’ most promising young arms of some development time, even if no further issues arise. That’s somewhat discouraging for Sox fans, especially when considering the strong second half that the former No. 3 overall draft pick posted last year.
After logging a 4.50 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in the first half last season, Rodon reeled off a 3.45 ERA in the second half with 9.5 K/9 against 2.7 BB/9. Rodon enjoyed a superlative month of August, and while the month of September was more uneven, he flashed his upside with eight shutout innings and 11 strikeouts in his penultimate start of the season against the World Series-bound Indians.
With Rodon sidelined, a number of his would-be innings could go to rookie Dylan Covey and veteran swingman Anthony Swarzak. The rest of the Chicago rotation is rounded out by Jose Quintana, James Shields, Derek Holland and Miguel Gonzalez, though certainly the Sox hope that some of the vaunted arms they picked up in the offseason trades of Chris Sale and Adam Eaton could impact that starting group sooner rather than later; Michael Kopech, Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez — each of whom has been regarded recently as one of the game’s top overall pitching prospects — are all set to open the season in the upper minors for Chicago and could eventually knock on the door in 2017.
So now it’s Q and a pile of nothing behind him in their rotation
Yeah, at least it used to be Sale and Quintana and nothing mañana. Now its’s just “Q” and poo! lol
Simmer….it’s the start of the rebuilding process. Not rushing the young gunsup yet….no need to
I’m worried that Rodon won’t come close to the hype that he got. Hope he’s healthy long term, but this is not good news.
he was drafted less than 3 years ago and was a HS pitcher. simmer down
He played college actually
This is a cautionary tale that reminds us that prospects are just prospects until they are consistently successful in the majors. Despite a good second half, Rodon’s reputation still trades on the hype he received when drafted. Here’s hoping his recovery is full and swift.
Lets not forget that only a handful of pitchers who were selected in that Rule 4 Draft class are in MLB right now. How many of those few actually have the experience and numbers that Carlos Rodon has already put up?
Some scouts had referenced HOF southpaw Steve Carlton when evaluating Rodon coming out of that draft, especially in regards to his wipeout slider. Well, as an advanced college arm, Rodon certainly spent less time in the minors than “Lefty” and his early metrics as a MLB pitcher are also somewhat comparable, even substantially better when looking at his strikeouts numbers.
This should help the Pale Hosers get a better draft pick. They still need to unload short-term assets, or they run the risk of being just good enough to get a middling pick and bonus pool.
Yes.
However, those short term assets likely won’t begin their departure until close to the July 31st non-waiver trade deadline and might only include those veterans with expiring contract like Todd Frazier, Melky Cabrera and Derek Holland.
The pitchers who are likely to assume Carlos Rodon’s spot in the rotation are either Rule 5 selection Dylan Covey and/or journeyman Anthony Swarzak. Covey can’t be dealt by the trade deadline and must be kept on their own 25-man roster all season or offered back to the Oakland A’s. The chances of Swarzak having any trade value come July 31st are pretty slim which is what made him a a non-roster invitee in the first place.
I’d rather see top prospect Reynaldo Lopez assume fifth spot in the rotation and then deal with his MLB service time issues when Rodon returns from the disabled list…or not if he’s that good.
Not too bad news, yeah of course you don’t want the kid hurt but it also will keep his innings count down
This especially sucks since Carlos Rodon will continue to accrue MLB service time while on the disabled list while losing valuable developmental time AND they organization will be reluctant to promote any of their top rotation prospects from AAA (Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Carson Fulmer) to fill his spot because of that same service time issue.
This is particularly disconcerting in the case of Lopez who looks more than ready to assume a spot in the White Sox rotation after already spending ample time at AAA and making 5 starts with the Nationals last season, along with having a solid spring training in Arizona. Unlike the less talented Dylan Covey and Anthony Swarzak, Lopez is sufficiently stretched out to assume the role of 5th starter and less likely to kill the bullpen when he takes the mound. The White Sox ought to seriously consider promoting Lopez to assume the 5th spot asap and then worry about making up his service time when Rodon returns from the D.L. If Lopez is too good to send back down, screw the service time and let him continue to refine his game under the watchful eye of pitching coach Don Cooper.
The White Sox front office has already gone on record and stated that service time issues will not be a hinderance to promoting any prospect if they are deemed ready for prime time. If that’s true, they should put their money where their mouth is and just let Lopez assume the #5 rotation spot, then decide who goes to the bullpen or gets cut between Rule 5 selection Covey and journeyman veteran Swarzak. If the organization is bent on competing by 2019 then they ought to get that ball rolling with a top prospect like Lopez and find out if he’s going to be a core rotation piece or more suited to a prominent role in their future bullpen.
Sound assessment, but relax Francis. Thinking that Hahn may very much be doing as you say, likely waiting until the Sox actually need a #5, which will be later this month, and also picking the right matchup and opportunity to phase in someone like Reynaldo. The Sox have a track record of promoting players when they’re ready, service time issues be damned, and then addressing the service time issue upfront by proactively negotiating a contract that makes sense for both parties- hence the team friendly contracts with Sale, Anderson which were a calculated risk on the team’s part, betting on a player’s success while buying out arb/first few years of free agency.
Everything you say pretty much supports my comment.
The White Sox will need a #5 starter as soon as Saturday unless another postponement occurs this week aside from the canceled home opener on Monday which will be made up today. Fortunately, there is rain and even snow in the Chicago forecast for the Wednesday and Thursday games so chances are good that the team will be able to skip their need for the extra pitcher until the second week of the season when they are scheduled to play a stretch of 9 consecutive road games beginning on Tuesday, April 11th.
Btw-Reynaldo Lopez would be ineligible to be recalled for that potential Saturday start unless the White Sox place another pitcher on the disabled list. He was optioned to AAA Charlotte in late March along with Lucas Giolito and Carson Fulmer a couple of days before Carlos Rodon’s injury occurred. Rodon was placed on the D.L. on Sunday and non-roster invitee Anthony Swarzak was added to the roster to take his place. Once a player is optioned to the minors, they must remain there for at least 10 days before being recalled unless an injury occurs on the roster. When the option occurs in spring training, the rule states that the player would need to wait 10 days from the start of the regular season.
There goes my first pick on my fantasy team…..
He was your first pick? Are you in like a 250-team league or something?