Chicago White Sox

Unfortunately I think Jiménez & Kopech will be up once Charlotte’s season ends. If the Sox were smart, they’d only call up a handful of guys (Bummer, Robson, Tilson, etc.) and claim they want to use September to evaluate certain players already on the 25 man roster. They’ll have to be creative to avoid calling up Eloy & Michael when rosters expand.

If you ignore ERA, Adams has been pretty horrible in AAA (5.54 FIP, 4.06 K/9, 4.34 BB/9). I don’t think he’s an option at all at this point. Stephens hasn’t been quite as good as of late, but his overall numbers are still pretty solid for AAA (3.48 FIP, 8.39 K/9, 2.99 BB/9). We also don’t know if he’s been working on something specific that’s impacted his numbers. Guerrero hasn’t been bad in AAA, but his perhiphals aren’t nearly as good as they were at AA outside of his HR rate which always scare me. IMO, Stephens is the clear favorite of these guys to get a starting role next year.

I don’t disagree with anything you’re saying, but I think there are definitely things the coaching staff can do help with the adjustment process. No doubt the bigger burden of blame falls on the player himself, but at some point you got to roll the dice and hope a new voice can help make things right. Moncada is simply too important to the rebuild to give Steverson the benefit of the doubt.

I hate to pull the pitchfork out, but please fire Steverson & Sparks. Maybe it’s not fair, but whatever they’re doing with Moncada isn’t working.

Yeah, really excited about him.

That was a curveball and he’s pretty much abandoned it. And it’s bizarre because it was his big secondary pitch in the minors, same with Giolito. Don’t understand how both guys get here and decide they no longer want to throw it.

Where do you pull your spin rate data from?

I think you’re the only one on this site who thinks this.

He had a stretch where he basically abandoned the change (and curve) and was a two pitch pitcher. What is the point of this season if a guy like Lopez isn’t working on developing a third pitch? And for that reason alone, I’ve started to question Cooper for the first time in my fandom.

Which is why he needs to keep throwing it.

I’m just hoping there are some coaching changes in the offseason and new voices can get through to him. We’ve seen what it’s like when things are going well, but Yoan is an absolute mess right now and it’s painful to watch.

I’m assuming Dunning doesn’t need TJS until I hear otherwise, but if he does, then that obviously changes his timeline significantly.

I’m sorry, did Yoan just get beat by a 90 MPH fastball there?

Same here, but he’s behind guys like Cease & Dunning at this point in time.

So to answer the question, here’s how I see the 2019 rotation shaking out over time: Opening Day: Rodon Lopez Giolito Cheap Veteran Covey Mid to Late April: Rodon Lopez Giolito Kopech Stephens - Covey & cheap veteran moved to bullpen (or possibly released). July / August Rodon Kopech Lopez Giolito / Cease Stephens / Dunning - Cease & Dunning replace any weak points in the rotation (excluding Rodon & Kopech)

Are you talking about next year? Because if so, Stephens & Adams both need to be added to the 40 man roster this offseason for Rule 5 protection. They will definitely be available for the opening day 25 without adding to the overall roster crunch (which still won’t be a huge issue this offseason). The real issue is what kind of message does it send to promote Stephens or Adams over Kopech. It’s one thing to hold down Michael and say “rotation is full”, it’s another thing to promote lessor prospects who have accomplished far less in AAA. For that reason alone, Covey might be able to hold onto a rotation spot heading next year. And I wouldn’t be surprised to see us a sign cheap veteran (ala MiGo) to serve a temporary placeholder.

There will be plenty of talent here by 2020 to hopefully be competitive with the right trades & free agent additions. The front office is NOT going to burn years of control of Moncada, Jimenez, Anderson, Rodon, Kopech, Giolito, Lopez, etc. while they wait for the guys in High A to hit the majors. There will be some sort of balance.

Isn’t Madrigal a HBP machine too? If so, that’s another thing that will prop up his OBP.

They’re totally going to call them up in September, which is the absolute nightmare scenario.

Just give Abreu a chance to end this.

Holy shit, this is getting interesting as fuck right now.

Engel should probably retire after this game! Talk about ending it on a high note!

And there are some people shouting for him to be our next manager!

Yup, because 23 year olds certainly can’t get better...

Remember, we need to get them prepared for their future platoon roles in the majors.