With Michael Kopech opting out of the 2020 season and Reynaldo Lopez now on the injured list with right-shoulder soreness, the White Sox’s starting pitching depth has taken a hit in the early going. That downward trend continued today as left-handed starting pitcher Carlos Rodon was placed on the 10-day IL with shoulder soreness after being removed from last night’s start prematurely.
Rodon, who was just making his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery, reportedly complained of pain in his neck to manager Rick Renteria. That, along with his decreased velocity was enough for the team to shut down his outing. He finished with a line of just two innings pitched, three hits, one earned run, no walks, and one strikeout with 26 pitches thrown. Though we don’t know much more regarding the extent of this injury or a timetable for Rodon’s return, the team will now have to find yet another replacement for their starting pitching staff.
As part of a corresponding move, the White Sox purchased the contract of right-handed pitcher Brady Lail from the Schaumburg training facility. Lail, 26, appeared in just one game for the New York Yankees during the 2019 season. In that outing, he threw 2.2 innings while giving up two hits, three earned, a home run, and one walk; also striking out two in the process. Across eight seasons in the minor leagues, the offseason free-agent signee had a 3.97 ERA, 1.278 WHIP, 2.64 SO/W over 741.0 career innings thrown. As our Jordan Lazowski noted in the below tweet, Lail hasn’t really been able to find a solid grove after success early on in his career.
It’s unclear how the White Sox will manage their rotation moving forward, and I am skeptical that Lail will be thrown into the mix. The move that appears to make the most sense involves placing Lail in a long-reliever type role while Ross Detwiler becomes one of the starting five. If Detwiler doesn’t turn out to be the man for the job in the long run, then I believe Dane Dunning will be next in line and quite frankly, is someone who I’d prefer getting the shot in the first place. It’s also worth noting that the Sox signed 36-year-old left-hander Clayton Richard to a minor league deal on Monday, so he could also be an option once he gets some work under his belt.
Aside from the rotation, another interesting bit of news came with regard to outfielder Luis Basabe. One of the return pieces in the Chris Sale trade, Basabe was designated for assignment as part of today’s moves. The 23-year-old is a career .248 hitter with 104 doubles, 44 home runs, and 257 RBI between the Red Sox and White Sox organizations. He was also ranked the ninth overall prospect in the organization, which is why I find this DFA to be somewhat surprising. My guess is that his recent injuries and lack of remaining options are a key factor, though we’ll see if anything more comes out about this.
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