The White Sox rotation was already down a man with last week’s announcement that Lance Lynn would be undergoing knee surgery. Now it seems it has been dealt another unfortunate blow, as manager Tony La Russa says Lucas Giolito will be heading to the IL, with missing two starts being the optimistic outcome, per James Fegan of The Athletic.
Giolito started last night’s season opener but left after four innings after experiencing abdominal tightness. While the long-term outlook is still unclear at this point, the fact that two starts is described as the “optimistic” downtime suggests that it’s likely to be longer than that. Giolito told reporters that the injury was a “random and freak thing” but not related to his oblique. (Twitter links from Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times)
Regardless of how long he is out, it’s bad news for the White Sox, as Giolito has established himself as one of the better starters in the game. Last year, he threw 178 2/3 innings with an ERA of 3.53, 27.9% strikeout rate and 7.2% walk rate, coming in 11th in AL Cy Young voting. With Lynn and Giolito now both on the shelf, the projected rotation is down to Dylan Cease, Dallas Keuchel and Michael Kopech. There were already question marks around some of those names, as Kopech has only thrown 69 1/3 total innings over the past three years, due to Tommy John surgery and opting out of the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign. Keuchel is coming off a down year where he put up a 5.28 ERA.
Due to those concerns, the club bolstered their depth by signing Vince Velasquez. Although initially projected to be in the bullpen as a long man, these injuries have quickly thrust him into the rotation. He will start Tuesday’s home opener for the club, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com. Velasquez has always provided intriguing results based on his strikeouts (25.4% career rate) but a propensity for long balls has pushed his ERA to 4.95 for his career and 6.30 last year.
That still leaves one spot available in the rotation. Reynaldo Lopez started nine games for the club last year and could be an option, though La Russa says that they will wait and see if he’s needed out of the bullpen in the coming days before making a decision on that, per Fegan. Going outside the box, Tanner Banks, who just cracked a major league roster for the first time at the age of 30, is another possible option. (Per Schouwen) Banks only started five out of his 25 appearances in Triple-A in 2021 and never logged more than four innings in any outing last year.
There’s plenty still up in the air here, but it’s still certainly concerning for the Sox and their fans. The bullpen had also been dented recently by the trade of Craig Kimbrel and the announcement that Garrett Crochet will need Tommy John surgery. The pitching staff will now have to weather yet another notable absence. Johnny Cueto was recently signed to a minor league deal, but he only just arrived at the club’s spring facility in Arizona yesterday, per Fegan. He’ll need to get ramped up at extended Spring Training and maybe pitch in the minors before he’ll be ready to help the big league team.
Elsewhere on the squad, A.J. Pollock will be departing from the team after Sunday’s game for paternity leave, per Merkin. La Russa says that Andrew Vaughn will get increased playing time in Pollock’s absence, per Fegan.
Trade for Montas
Yaaas. But will it cost them Vaughn or Sheets? Then prolly no.
Dumpster Diving Ricky!
No.
Can’t wait to see Jhonny Cueto when he’s ready. Shimmy on down!
Looks like Dumpster Diving Ricky will be doing a lot of Dumpster Diving in the next couple of days.
Kidding me.
Carlos Rodon sends regards.
Lol Rodon will be injured in no time aswell
If not now, Rodon will be injured at some point. Dude has not finished a season strong and healthy in 7 years. Even with tons of rest in the 2nd half and two weeks off prior to his playoff start, he still could barely manage 2 innings.
It’s always tough when injuries hit your staff. I can remember when Kerry Wood and Mark Prior got hurt. The Chisox fans were ssoooo sympathetic and encouraging towards Cubs fortunes. Towel drills are around the corner.
Wood and Prior were such likable guys, as was the manager that wore those guys into the ground. Yes, that’s sarcasm.
Is the White Sox manager passed out at the stop light again?
Thats Hall of Fame baseball person to you, buster
I’ll take that as a definite yes.
La Russa is an old drunk who needs AA
I’m a hardcore Sox fans and used to be cub hater. Wood was actually a pretty likeable guy. Baker and Prior, not so much. Yeah Baker pretty much ruined those two, insane how many pitches they threw in games where the outcome was not even in question.
Funny how the only managers who get blamed for “ruining” some pitcher’s arm are always black.
Actually, the guy who “ruined” Prior and Wood was Larry Rothschild. He also wrecked Rolando Arrojo (when he managed Tampa Bay).
I was going to insult your intelligence but it seems that nature already did.
So Larry Rothschild was calling the shots instead of manager, Dusty Baker? Why didn’t Larry Rothschild ruin any arms in New York then? I’ll tell you why. Because he didn’t ruin any arms at all. It was Dusty Baker, as is well publicized.
ChiSox, who is the other black guy you’re thinking of?
Is that a serious question? Never ruined any arms in NY eh? Ask Dellin Betances, Zack Britton, Tommy Kahnle for example. Done looking stupid yet? How about Arrojo and Wilson Alvarez in TB? “well publicized”, by whom exactly genius? Who’s arms did Dusty ruin in SF, Was, or Cin? Or are you just looking for a black scapegoat like the bigot you are?
Sfu, youre not wrong. Unfortunately, given the relative dearth of minority managers, not as much of a sample size. I don’t see there being a hubbub around Dave Roberts or Alex Cora for example. Might be more of a Dusty issue. Was there some stink around Frank Robinson for example? Too young to remember
DD Theo, hilarious handle by the way! Sadly can say the only thing I remember about Frank Robinson as a manager was when the camera filmed him fast asleep in the dugout in 2004 managing an abysmal Montreal Expos team (RIP).
Bigot? Seriously? You should probably try to have a clue what you’re talking about before you start throwing that shi* around. What a stupid comment.
Awe…that’s so sad.
Are those crocodile tears coming out of the corners of your eyes? Sarcasm isn’t a good look and Karma has a way of coming around and biting you in the ass!
You mad.
Better now then during the pennant race, hope he’s back soon, Sox need him.
One wonders if the prognosticators who picked the White Sox to win the AL Central are having second thoughts.
The season is a long grind and injuries are going to happen. Prolonged absences for Crochet and Lynn are bad omens, but I don’t see a challenge to the Sox this year from anyone unless Giolito is gone for months. Certainly makes the AL Central less of a slam dunk, however.
Nice pic of your mom’s. Yeah now might be a good time to jump on those playoff odds
@dumpster
She made the same tongue out face with me last night 😉
If you’re referring to my profile picture, I found it on Facebook years ago while collecting pictures of drunken college students. Unfortunately, you can’t find stuff like that on Facebook anymore.
RodCannon. OK amending comment to note that’s awesome.
Nope. I cannot stand the White Sox, but I see no way they do not win the division unless there are many–read, more than two–severe injuries to key players. Detroit and KC should be solid in a couple years, Cleveland is kinda a joke, and Minnesota is lacking in many important areas. Sox win going away, even w TLR as mgr.
Damn! I thought the Tigers had bad luck with the late injuries to Riley Greene and Andrew Chafin but that’s not looking so bad now. Losing your #2 and #3 in the rotation this quickly is huge. Their offense could keep them in it, winning alot of 10-8 games. But we’ll see….
That and the weird ass stuff that the weird ass Twins are capable of. Anyone see that Jays Rangers gm? Roller coaster video game stuff. Buckle up for a rocky couple of months in the AL central, and beyond.
Curious, if Lynn and Giolito are two and three…who the heck is their number one starter?
Must be Dallas Keuchel lol.
Dylan Cease, my pick for the A.L. Cy Young Award, is the #1 arm in the White Sox rotation. By the end of last year, he was clearly on a path to be the top pitcher in the Sox rotation. He can be downright filthy at times!
And now he’s sporting a Freddie Mercury stache- don’t stop him now!
See that Sean Manaea stat line?
Lopez should’ve been in the rotation already. VV is not 1st division SP material.
Lopez will be methinks when Kelly is ready. Taking advantage of days off in the interim. Some intriguing arms in the meantime. Sousa kid is solid in limited time.
No offseason contact & short ST. Again, depth is the only thing that matters this season. If you don’t have it your season may be torpedoed. I expect a record number of injuries this season in the first few months. This may just be the start of injuries for the White Sox and every other team. More injuries are coming, it will get worse.
You’re prescience is akin to a Kwisatz Haderach. AJ Pollock left today’s game with ‘tight’ hamstring. Pollock is no stranger to hamstring injuries among his other afflictions.
Hopefully Pollock’s hamstring is a minor day-to-day issue. Pollock was going on a paternity leave following today’s game anyway. Tim Anderson will be back on Sunday after serving his 2-game suspension from late last season.
Who’d a thunk those injuries last year would have an unintended positive effect. They learned to lean on the likes of Billy and Goodwin who sadly don’t appear to be in the game, but the experience that Vaughn, Sheets and Burger got should reap dividends. Already able to be deployed in plug and play duty right out of the chute.
Brian Goodwin remains a free agent as we post.
Seattle signed Billy Hamilton to a MiLB deal with an NRI on March 21st. Hamilton was notified on April 5th he wouldn’t crack the Mariners opening day roster and was reassigned to their minor league camp. He is not on the Mariners AAA roster at Tacoma so I would assume he refused the assignment and elected free agency.
Yeah as the mighty and supreme all kbowing zeus noted, it’s already raging. As Stoney noted on the broadcast, all pitchers normally experience a dead arm phase about 6 weeks into ST before getting their second wind in time for the season. Natural part of wearing down then rebuilding tissue. Why ST is the length it is, to help pitchers. No we’re likely to see a wave of pitching owies across the landscape.
Just the beginning folks. The short ST and weird 2021 are gonna produce pitcher injuries like we’ve never seen before. White Sox should consider themselves lucky that Gio and Lynn both have non-arm related issues.
Lynn and Hendriks also have head related issues.
Dogbone has mommy issues. As in hasn’t left the basement.
It’s early and the White Sox have more than enough firepower to weather this storm. Remember, you heard it here first ….. Dylan Cease will be the A.L. Cy Young Award winner this year!! Too many have forgotten the breakout season that Reynaldo Lopez had on the mound last year. He was terrific at times during the second half of the season. Despite being down a couple of starters, other teams around the league need to still understand that Dallas Keuchel remains VERY available.
Speaking of Dallas Keuchel, he has a $20M team option that will vest next year if he reaches 160 IP’s this season. He pitched 162 innings last year as the team’s 5th and least productive starter. The White Sox rotation was much healthier last season, particularly early on when each of their starters took the mound regularly. They didn’t really experience many health issues until the last couple of months with Carlos Rodons’ shoulder issues being the most troublesome.
With Rodon gone, Lance Lynn out for up to 2 months, Lucas Giolito likely to miss at least two turns and the workload of Michael Kopech being monitored, it will be difficult if not impossible for the White Sox to reduce Keuchel’s innings if he is healthy and as ‘productive’ (lol) as he was in 2021. The team would need a quick ramp-up of Johnny Cueto in the minors, some decent early production from Vince Velasquez and/or Reynaldo Lopez and no further health issues in order to ‘limit’ Keuchel’s innings this season.
Of course, if Keuchel can manage to approach his 2020 first season with the White Sox the front office would have no problems assuming his 2023 salary. Keuchel would also be a more appealing trade piece at this summer’s deadline with a solid first half or even next offseason in his free agent walk year.
It’s early and we are just gonna have to make it work for now. A strong outing by Kopech with a “W” today will be a huge start taking 2 of 3 from Detroit. What’s Bartolo Colon doing these days???
Hoping you’re right about Reyno. The Ethan Katz effect that got the best out of Carlos. Could it happen again? And maybe some of Gios old Harvard Westlake teammates decide on a reunion down the road. What better place than with Coach?
Today’s Sox win is what you will see without Graveman and Hendricks. Maybe start a reliever for a few innings then bring in the starter who would have more time to get ready or skipped if the pen is doing well. Its not the traditional approach but has some merit if you are pitch or innings counting the first month and injury plagued. Its an extended ST trial to see who can help the Sox with the gut check. Need to pound division foes with Cease and Kopech. Let the pen and AAA go after the Mariners and Yanks the next two weeks till the Cavalry sends more help from the DL. Division wins are critical now more than before. Long relievers are rarely ready for battle when a ship is suddenly attacked. What do they get when they warm up maybe 8 to 10 pitches? Everyone would have more time to get ready from the start.
Rays, LA, Boston all non division games. Sox have 10 division games left in Apr., 8 in May, and only 3 in June. Schedule impacts Sox early. Big division games in second half.
Lot of early playoff previews. Tigers are a tough out, think they’re playoff caliber. Then the Ms and Rays and the Angels and Yankees early on. Love the fact that vets like Yaz and Abreu are keeping everyone focused and picking up the bullpen after a tough loss. Eloy and Robert shortening their swings and making contact in key situations. Sox have been opportunistic, lot of 2 out rallies.
Sounds like Cueto may be up very quickly
He’ll need a month or so for extended spring training, but yeah, a guy who pitched big innings in the postseason for the Royals and Giants would be most welcome.
The rotation was an issue prior to Lynn and giolito injuries. You can’t come into this season subtracting rodon and replacing him with Velazquez. This is poor management by hahn. Wouldn’t be surprised at all if Jerry refused to add to the payroll either. Crotchet injury was unfortunate. Sox have multiple injuries and we aren’t even a full week into the season. Not panicked but who is our trainer? These guys need to get healthy and get some mental toughness if they have any desire at winning a playoff series.