Over the weekend Chicago White Sox ace Chris Sale suffered an avulsion fracture in his right foot and the team said he would miss the next three weeks, which puts his status for Opening Day in serious question. Another left-hander will now have the opportunity to compete for a spot in the rotation.
Pitching prospect Carlos Rodon will take Sale's place in the spring training starting rotation, according to Bill Baer of NBC Sports' HardballTalk. The 22-year-old left-hander made his way through Chicago's farm system with ease in 2014 and it was believed he would be called up to the 40-man roster in September, but general manager Rick Hahn opted to keep him in the minors.
Rodon will now start on Friday in place of Sale during the team's third spring training game against the San Diego Padres in Peoria, Ariz. In nine games (six starts) last season in the rookie league, High Class-A Winston-Salem and Triple-A Charlotte, the former No. 3 overall pick was 0-0 with a 2.96 ERA, 1.356 WHIP and 38 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings.
"That's cool,'' Rodon told Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times when he received the news. "Same mindset. Just like any other game, it's baseball. That's the way I look at it. It should be fun. I'll get to work on stuff in the Cactus League against better hitters. It will be fun to see how I do against them."
"Rodon, who did not have a regular spring-training start scheduled, other than maybe a B game or a split-squad, really wasn't scheduled as of yet," added pitching coach Don Cooper. "Now the door is open for him to start and show everybody what he can do."
Hahn noted back in January that the left-hander has a "world of talent" and is progressing with his changeup command as well as his "three-plus-pitch repertoire." Rodon's promotion to the spring training starting rotation isn't too big of a surprise since Hahn said the youngster will contribute for the White Sox "at some point in the not-so-distant future," according to CBS Chicago.
Chicago's fifth game of the season is on Apr. 11 at home against the Minnesota Twins, which gives Sale more than enough time to recover and get some time on the mound before making his 2015 debut. Although Rodon has a shot to crack the starting rotation, it's more likely he starts off in the bullpen if he were to make the major league roster, just like Sale did in his first two seasons in the MLB.
