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Chicago White Sox: Major Takeaways From the 2016 Season

By Greg Goldstein

Oct 2, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale (R) shakes hands with manager Robin Ventura (L) prior to their game against the Minnesota Twins at U.S. Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 2, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale (R) shakes hands with manager Robin Ventura (L) prior to their game against the Minnesota Twins at U.S. Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 7, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jose Quintana (62) delivers a pitch against the Detroit Tigers during the first inning at U.S. Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 7, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Jose Quintana (62) delivers a pitch against the Detroit Tigers during the first inning at U.S. Cellular Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports /

A Premier Pitch Combo

Everyone who even remotely follows baseball knows that Chris Sale can throw with the best of them. At just 27 years old going into the regular season, Sale had already finished in the top five of the AL Cy Young voting three different times. The lanky left-hander had also never finished a season with an ERA of over 3.45, while also striking out at least one batter per inning in every year that he has pitched in the majors.

Knowing this, it was expected that Sale would do that once again, and for the most part, he was really good…not great…but still really good. Sale finished the year with an ERA of 3.34, which was an improvement over last season. He also kept his walk numbers low and struck out 9.3 batters per nine innings of work. The ace did utilize a different pitching strategy this season as he conserved his arm a little bit more than in years past. After averaging around 95 mph on his fastball in 2015, he did not throw as hard this go around, averaging a fastball velocity of 92.8. It’s still a good fastball, but it just wasn’t that one we have grown accustomed to when Sale toes the rubber.

The second part of the pitching dominant pitching duo emerged in Jose Quintana. The fellow 27 year-old performed just as well as, if not better than Sale in some regards. His ERA was lower (3.20) and he allowed slightly less home runs throughout the entirety of the regular season. Quietly, Quintana has never finished a season with an ERA above 3.51 in the past four years and he’s been improving on that number in every season since his major league debut.

Consistent, level-headed and not using many tricks, he will certainly continue to be a perfect complement to the fiery Sale for the next few seasons, which actually perfectly leads into the next takeaway…

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