White Sox MiLB News: Rondon to Replace Sale this Spring

The Chicago White Sox got some bad news late last week when their ace Chris Sale fractured his foot in a freak accident at his home. Well, if their best pitcher went down, they should replace him with their best pitching prospect, right? MLB.com reports that stepping into Sale’s rotation spot this spring will be be White Sox top prospect Carlos Rondon.

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Rondon was the White Sox first round draft pick just last season, selected third overall out of North Carolina State. He had an impressive first season, spanning three levels. Rondon impressed so much at High-A where he limited hitters to a .189 batting average behind a 1.86 ERA that he jumped all the way to the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. He made three starts at Charlotte and although he wasn’t able to register a decision he struck out 18 batters in 12 innings and limited the damage by only allowing four runs. His best two starts of the year were his last and longest two. Rondon finished the season tossing 5 innings and striking out seven Gwinnett Braves.

The 22-year old lefty’s claim to fame is his mid-80s slider. Paired with a mid-90s fastball, Rondon has two solid swing and miss pitches that allowed him to become the Wolf Pack’s all time strikeout king with 436 college whiffs.

“It’s a good one,” Doug Laumann, director of amateur scouting told ESPN of Rondon’s slider. “It freezes left-handed hitters. The one thing I try to look at, especially for left-handed pitcher, you would expect at times that a left-hander would have trouble with it, but when they can bury a slider on the back foot of a right-handed hitter and get it under their hands, then you know a guy has a really good one.

“It’s certainly a dominant pitch — and that’s not to take anything away from his fastball and his changeup, both of which are plus pitches — but the slider is certainly a dominant pitch for him.”

Rondon’s “worst” pitch is his changeup, which, behind his massive 6 foot 3, 235 pound frame, should only improve. Considered by many to be the best left-hander out of college since David Price, Rondon is projected to a be a No. 2 starter behind Sale, maybe as early as 2015. That doesn’t mean he will make the Opening Day roster with this opportunity however.

Sale is not expected to miss too much time, and Rondon is still expected to get some more work in a Triple-A to start the season with only 9 professional starts under his belt. The No. 12 prospect in baseball, however, won’t be able to be held back for long. Most expect Rondon to make his Big Show debut sometime later this season. Should he make the jump successfully, Sale, Jeff Samardzija and Rondon will make quite an imposing 1-2-3 punch.

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