The White Sox have announced that right-hander Dylan Covey has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to inflammation in his throwing shoulder. Righty Thyago Vieira is coming up from Triple-A Charlotte to fill Covey’s spot on the 25-man roster.
Covey has a 4.58 ERA over 37 1/3 innings this season, starting seven out of his nine appearances for Chicago. The 27-year-old hasn’t missed many bats (5.3 K/9) while also posting a 4.82 BB/9, so between those numbers and a generous .239 BABIP, ERA predictors paint a significantly downcast view of Covey’s performance — 5.66 FIP, 5.84 xFIP, 6.12 SIERA.
Covey moved into the rotation when Carlos Rodon was lost for the season due to Tommy John surgery, and Covey’s absence further thins out Chicago’s pitching mix. Depending on how long Covey is out, the White Sox may be able to get by without a fifth starter altogether, as the club only plays eight times over the next 11 days. Beyond that, Odrisamer Despaigne is the only experienced option available at Triple-A, and he would need to be added to the 40-man roster. Of course, the White Sox also have one of baseball’s top pitching prospects in Dylan Cease, though it remains to seen if the Sox will promote Cease (and burn valuable service time) this season or wait until 2020.
I know it’s against inferior competition, but Giolito looks really good out there. We’ll find out how good he truly is over the next few weeks when he starts facing better competition. If nothing else, he is dominating against teams he’s supposed to beat, which is perfect for a #5. If, by the end of the season, he proves to be far better than a #5, what a boost that would be for the team (with TA and Moncada already vastly improving this season).
I say this since all 3 were widely considered busts by the public and experts (prematurely so, especially for Moncada). It makes me laugh that there’s already premature chatter about Jimenez being a bust.
Back to Giolito. Yes, I’m still skeptical about Giolito, but every time he pitches as well as he has the last month or so, it gives me a that much more confidence in him.
And, yes, I know this article was about Covey, not Giolito. What’s there to say about Covey? Pretty much the same thing we’ve said the last year and a half about him. Some days he looks promising, other days he doesn’t belong anywhere near an MLB stadium.
I think Giolito has won his past 6 or 7 starts, including a CG versus the Astros. I’m skeptical too but he may have finally turned the page
Among his 9 wins, Lucas Giolito has defeated the Indians twice along with the Astros and Yankees. He also received a non-decision versus the Red Sox in a game the White Sox won 6-4. He has also recorded 3 wins versus the Royals and two against the Blue Jays. A third of the way into the 2019 season, Giolito is a near lock for the All-Star game and a strong contender for the AL Cy Young Award.
Lucas 7 wins in a row with support of 5 or fewer runs (3.3 average actually).
Last time a Sox pitcher did this was 100 years ago.
I wonder if Rick Hahn will acquire recently DFA’ed Nick Kingham via trade now that Covey is on the IL. The hope being Don Cooper can fix whatever is ailing Kingham. Also, there is a recent trade history involving the Pirates and Sox. The offseason transaction involving Ivan Nova for a low level minor league pitcher.
Sox have a history of acquiring other organizations top pitching prospects (Gavin Floyd, John Danks).after poor showings with the team that drafted them.
Or will they promote Dylan Cease. in the near future.
They will NOT promote Cease.
Need to pick up Detroit’s Boyd.
I guess they can try Cordero as well.
Sox have a couple of off days this week. They don’t really need another starter.
yes, they could promote him in mid-April 2020 to get an extra year of contol – or they could promote him in mid-April 2021 to get two extra years
@DarkSide830
Unless he gets injured or completely falls apart by then, Cease will be up in July or August (just like Aaron Sapoznik in his post mentioned below). They did it with Giolito, Lopez, and Fulmer in ’17 and Kopech last year.
I think they wait that long to ensure they are well out of range for Super 2 status and aren’t obvious about it. That’s just my opinion on that, I have no proof that’s their mindset. Anyway, I’d expect him not long after the ASB.
That’s just dumb.
With another decent stater, this team would be on fringe of wildcard this year. They are already close to fringe.
It’s time for the team to actually start trying to win games.
@maximumvelocity
Ideally I’d rather see them win games, but I think lately they’ve benefited from playing mostly bad or mediocre teams (not all, but most). I don’t think they’re playing as good as their record (hopefully I’m wrong, but that’s how I see it). The next few weeks will determine whether they are playing like a .500 team or they’re a pretender masking themselves as a .500 team. I will say they need to plug a lot of holes right now, and many of those plugs are still in the minors.
That post was for Darkside. I agree with you.
They would then have more pressure to spend, which they wont do.
One thing is for certain: ‘Depending on how long Covey is out’, is the Jerry Reisdorf will not spend any money to advance the chances that this franchise can win more ball games. So what does injury mean? – that Sox can formally TANK again? How long will Sox fans put up with the ineptitude and cheapness of this owner?
Amen to that…
@Dogbone
I’m sure the thought is going through his mind to tank again. But at the same time, unless they trade for a strong SP, it’s not like there’s much out there for them to choose from. Kuechel was the pick of the litter, and he’s a risk due to being out all season.
Right now all you have is Giolito, and once in a while Lopez. Cease will come up in a month or two, but it’s not like he’s immediately going to pitch like a Cy Young winner. Unless you can get a SP that makes sense for the future, why bother picking up a mediocre SP now just to gain a few extra wins. Plus they have too many of their key offensive pieces still in the minors. Once they start facing stiffer competition over the next month, it will probably knock them completely out of any race. At that point, what’s the difference between losing 85 and 90, or 90 and 95, etc.
I can see them being at or above .500 next year. I think they’ll be a little short of the playoffs (maybe 5-7 games), but next year looks much brighter (assuming they don’t get a huge rash of devastating injuries again).
Recent history suggests that the White Sox will promote Dylan Cease to their starting rotation in July or August. They did just that last year with Michael Kopech and the season before with both Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez. The latter two had already made their MLB debuts with the Nationals in 2016 but each were still considered prospects when they debuted with the White Sox the following summer.
They have no intention of trying to win 75 games this year. And if Giolito wasn’t throwing this well, they’d have no intention of winning 68 games – AGAIN!!!!
The White Sox were in a full-on rebuild mode in 2017 and 2018 when those prospect starting pitchers were promoted. This suggests they might do likewise in Year 3 of the rebuild this summer with Dylan Cease. It should also be pointed out that Cease has had better numbers for AAA Charlotte and their bandbox home field than either Giolito, Lopez or Kopech produced there.
What’s your excuse for 2014, 15 and 16?
By the time they’re ‘ready to win’, Rodon, Giolito will be free agents. They still need a catcher, second baseman, two OFs (or 1 OF and a DH), two SPs and about 3 RPS. And Reinsdorf will only look for bargains.
@Dogbone
’14 through ’16 they weren’t in rebuild mode. They didn’t have a competent gameplan, just add some guys and hope it worked.
As for the 2nd part, C Collins, 2B Madrigal, 1 OF Robert, 2nd OF/DH Maybe Basabe or Adolfo or even Burger (or sign/trade for), 1 SP Cease, 2nd SP either Dunning or sign/trade for. I won’t even attempt the pen, but they can buy/trade for a few of them. In 2021, you have Vaughn to bring up.
Yes, sure, some or all of these guys I mentioned could be busts, but that’s the blueprint right now for the team. Just because they’re in the minors right now doesn’t mean you can dismiss them completely. Rodon’s the only one right now they would risk losing in the next few years (besides Abreu, if they decide to part ways with him), and how good has Rodon been up to this point anyway?
If you’re looking for anything this year from them, you best keep walking.
Yes, I know, you didn’t ask me, but I just finished commenting on your other post. Consider it a 2-for-1 deal.
It should be further pointed out that he too possesses the inability to throw strikes at a constant rate
How is a .239 BABIP generous?
When you’re a pitcher…