Chicago White Sox: Starting rotation must improve quickly
By Ian Blum
The Chicago White Sox starting rotation has been shaky all year. With James Shields and Carlos Rodon on the DL, manager Rick Renteria has to find a way to balance rough starters and the bullpen.
Earlier this week, the Chicago White Sox took the field in Los Angeles to face the Angels. Between the site of Mike Trout on lineup cards and Mike Pelfrey penciled in as the Sox starter, many believed it would get ugly.
However to the surprise of many fans who stayed up late to watch the game all was well when the Sox took the field in the fifth inning. Pelfrey had pitched four scoreless innings and entered the fifth with a 2-0. Unfortunately, that lead did not stand much longer after back to back home runs involving Trout and Kole Calhoun immediately gave the Angels a lead they would hold.
The problem is not that a rebuilding team blew the lead. This is something White Sox should grow to expect at times in youth movement. It is simply the fact that Pelfrey was in the game at all. Dylan Covey similarly to Pelfrey have a narrative that’s all the same. Both tend to handle themselves well for start of the game but quickly are torched by the middle innings.
It is a complex situation that has competitive minded people, like MLB managers, losing sleep. The simple solution is to control innings for a pitcher. Sox fans know Pelfrey is a time bomb so just remove him before they go off. Well, it’s not that simple.
Obviously, Rick Renteria can not use up all of his bullpen arms so early in the year or else they will be burned out by mid-summer. The Chicago White Sox bullpen has been great this season but they cannot continue to drag the starters along all season.
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If the starting pitching on this Sox team bothers you, you’re not alone. This is simply yet another thing that fans everywhere will have to stomach for the next month or so.
The bullpen can not save the team all season. The rough times they have fallen on since the solid start is a result of a poor rotation. Shields or Rodon need to get back and prospects need to learn quick or else the number of losses will continue to pile up for 2017 White Sox.