Carlos Rodon will not be long for the bullpen.
That much you can bet on. Unlike new teammate Chris Sale before him, Rodon will not be stuck in relief for his entire rookie season.
The Chicago White Sox cannot afford to use Rodon as just an effective bullpen piece. Not when he already has one of the best sliders in the big leagues and not when the team already finds itself in a 5.5-game hole in the American League Central, partly because the rotation is one of the worst in the majors.
Once he is slotted in with Sale, the ace, and Jeff Samardzija, the No. 2, Rodon will give the White Sox one of the strongest, deepest rotations in the AL. That move will also undoubtedly rocket the left-hander into the league’s finicky Rookie of the Year race.
Everything you need to know about @WhiteSox phenom @CarlosRodon16 and his NSFW slider: http://t.co/iar9fbl7UI pic.twitter.com/lpDyQ1xIvA
— Cut4 (@Cut4) April 20, 2015
The White Sox drafted Rodon third overall in the 2014 draft. They gave him a franchise-record $6.582 million bonus, the largest in last year’s draft class and the highest ever for a left-handed pitcher.
Rodon went into this season as one of the game’s best prospects, rated No. 15 overall by MLB.com and Baseball America. He was the team’s top prospect when he was invited to big league camp in February.
Rodon gave the White Sox an impressive spring training, striking out 21 and walking five in 17.2 innings. Those numbers made him a consideration for the Opening Day rotation, but the team elected to send him to Triple-A Charlotte to work on fastball command and his changeup. In his two starts there, Rodon struck out 13, walked four and had a 3.60 ERA in 10 innings.
While the minor league numbers are not huge on wow factor, Rodon did enough to prove he can handle big league hitters from both sides of the plate. That fact will make him a valuable reliever while he is in the bullpen.
The move to start him in the ‘pen could make it easier for Rodon to handle the pressure that comes with his call-up, and it gives the coaches chances to look at him in games more than once every fifth day.
As White Sox general manager Rick Hahn told CSN Chicago's Dan Hayes near the end of the season, it's remarkable for Rodon to be in this position already:
We’re talking about a kid who is 22, 23 years old, who was in the ACC a year ago at this time, has fewer than 25 professional innings, and yet here we are talking about the finishing elements of his development. That’s fantastic. We’re in a great position. Carlos is in a great position. … You’re not talking about talent. You’re not talking about ceiling. You’re not talking about mechanics or health or anything that’s going to be a factor in his long-term success—we’re talking about practice.
Apparently 10 innings worth was enough for the White Sox, particularly when the rotation has been as bad as it has during the first two weeks with the exception of Sale. Samardzija (4.29 ERA in 21 innings) and Jose Quintana (8.40 in 15) have looked bad, but their spots are safe among the starters.
Because of the schedule, Hector Noesi has made only one start this season, and it was an unimpressive one—4.2 innings, four hits, six walks, two runs allowed. That clearly makes his hold on his spot weak with his second start scheduled for Tuesday against the Cleveland Indians.
John Danks is the other potential ouster from the rotation. He’s pitched 10.1 innings and allowed eight runs on 18 hits over two starts. He starts Monday against the Indians.
That should make it safe to say that as long as Rodon performs as a reliever, he will eventually take over one of those spots in the rotation. When that happens is mostly up to him.
Even though Rodon’s fastball-slider combination is good enough to get hitters out from the bullpen, he needs to develop a third pitch—the changeup—to become a starter. If he can flash that as at least an average major league pitch in his time as a reliever, it will give the White Sox less pause to move him into a starting role.
“Fastball command, it was real good,” Rodon told reporters after being informed he would not make the big league roster in March. “And then now it’s busting out the changeup and throwing it more often so I can develop that pitch. I think it’s ready so we’ll see.”
The White Sox have had success in breaking in pitching prospects through the bullpen, with Sale as the example. The difference is that when Sale broke in as a full-time reliever, the White Sox were expected to be a mediocre club, and they finished 79-83 in that 2011 season.
Expectations have changed. The White Sox underwent a noticeable roster makeover in the offseason, and anything but a postseason berth can be filed in the failure folder. That means if Danks and Noesi continue their struggles, and Rodon proves the changeup is manageable, he will not spend the entire year in the bullpen.
All quotes, unless otherwise specified, have been acquired first-hand by Anthony Witrado. Follow Anthony on Twitter @awitrado and talk baseball here.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
- Login to post comments