Carlos Rodon set to make White Sox debut
By Tim Haberin
Kris Bryant isn’t the only big-name prospect arriving in the Windy City. The Chicago White Sox called up hard-throwing left-hander Carlos Rodon on Monday in time for a series with division rival Cleveland. The third overall pick in last year’s draft, the 22-year-old Rodon was ranked the 15th-best prospect by Baseball America prior to the start of the 2015 season. Naturally, the ChiSox and their fans have many reasons to be excited, but after a 4-7 start they will also hope Rodon takes to his new gig quickly.
Attending college proved to be a good choice for Rodon, who boosted his draft stock with a stellar career at North Carolina State. He led the Wolfpack to the College World Series in 2013 and also set the school’s career strikeout record by his junior season. He was quite the hot commodity by the time the South Siders got their hands on him, and he unsurprisingly made short work of minor league competition.
Rodon needed only 24.1 innings to climb from Rookie-level ball to AAA in 2014, striking out 38 batters and allowing less than a hit per frame (20) over that span. He picked up this season right where he left off (eight hits and 13 strikeouts in ten innings) and Chicago wasted little time giving him that big league call-up.
The White Sox are expected to put Rodon in the bullpen initially. It’s certainly not uncommon for teams to use hard-throwing youngsters in relief with an eye towards integrating them into the starting rotation, although there have been mixed results in recent memory. The Reds presumably don’t mind that Aroldis Chapman has used his 100 mph fastball to become one of the league’s best closers, but the Yankees still might wonder if things would have turned out differently had they not shuffled Joba Chamberlain between roles so often.
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Fortunately for Carlos Rodon, the White Sox have recent experience with this kind of situation and most would agree it ended rather well for all involved. Chris Sale started his Major League career with 79 appearances out of the bullpen in 2010-2011 before making the switch to starter and developing into a perennial Cy Young contender.
Rodon also has the stuff to thrive in a relief role. With a 95 mph fastball known to touch 97-98, he won’t need to hold back much while pitching a couple innings at a time. He’ll be able to focus on throwing his plus pitches, such as his knockout slider, while tinkering with those that still need work, like his changeup. Limiting his workload early could also allow him to continue pitching down the stretch in a potential playoff push.
Of course, the White Sox pitching staff could also just use a boost in general. The bullpen’s uninspiring 3.86 ERA is 24th in Major League Baseball, so Rodon figures to make a sizeable difference there. The back-end of the rotation has been failing to provide quality innings as well; neither John Danks nor Hector Noesi has lasted more than 5.2 innings in a start thus far, and the young lefty will have the opportunity to pick up some of the slack whether in long relief or even a spot-start down the line if necessary.
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Currently level with Cleveland at the bottom of the American League Central and lagging 5.5 games behind the surging Detroit Tigers, few would argue the White Sox need a spark. Despite his limited time in the minor leagues, Carlos Rodon seems like a no-brainer at this point. This is a young arm with an impressive arsenal that tossed a lot of quality innings at the collegiate level. It’s debatable how much further polishing he can really get at AAA Charlotte. By starting him in the bullpen, the White Sox can ease him onto the MLB stage at the appropriate pace while also benefiting from his considerable talent.