1. Addison Reed, RP, Chicago White Sox- 13 GP 10 IP 0-0 0.00 ERA 5 hits 14 K 3 BB WHIP 0.923.  Reed has been very good out of the White Sox bullpen, especially with the absence of Jesse Crain.

2. Nestor Molina, SP, Birmingham Barons/Charlotte Knights- 6 GS 36.1 IP 3-1 3.72 ERA 45 hits 25 K 5 BB WHIP 1.376.  Molina has had some really good starts as he continues to work on his secondary pitches.  In his first start with AAA Charlotte, Molina was roughed up, giving up six runs in 4 innings.

3. Trayce Thompson, CF, Winston-Salem Dash- .218/.321/.418 .739 OPS 8 2B 1 3B 4 HR 19 RBI 3 SB.  Thompson is doing what he does every season.  Low average with some good power.  Needs to learn how to be a better contact hitter.

4. Jake Petricka, SP, Winston-Salem Dash- 5 GS 24 IP 5.62 ERA 27 hits 24 K 12 BB WHIP 1.484.  A lot of scouts think that Petricka will end up in the bullpen since he throws in the high 90s, but the Sox want him to be a starting pitcher.  Petricka was recently moved to AA Birmingham to take Molina’s spot in the rotation.

5. Erik Johnson, SP- Johnson is in extended spring training and will pitch starting out for Great Falls Voyagers in the Rookie League.

6. Tyler Saladino, SS, Birmingham Barons- .261/.411/.353 .764 OPS 4 2B 2 3B 1 HR 15 RBI 12 SB.  Saladino is one of the young kids that is going to push Gordon Beckham and Brent Morel probably by the start of next season.

7. Simon Castro, SP, Birmingham Barons- 7 GS 45 IP 3.60 ERA 44 hits 36 K 10 BB WHIP 1.200.  Acquired in the Carlos Quentin trade with San Diego Padres, big guy that has been having some hard luck this season.

8. Keenyn Walker, CF, Kannapolis Intimidators- .245/.353/.316 .670 OPS 5 2B 1 3B 0 HR 15 RBI 12 SB.  Being a 1st round draft pick last season, the White Sox want him to step up and become that leadoff hitter/center fielder they need.

9. Eduardo Escobar, SS, Chicago White Sox- .143/.171/.229 .423 OPS 4 hits 28 AB 1 3B 1 RBI.  Has been good defensively, but terrible with the bat.  Won’t last too much longer if he doesn’t show anything with the bat.

10. Hector Santiago, RP, Chicago White Sox- 5.73 ERA 11 IP 17 hits 5 HR 15 K 5 BB WHIP 1.469.  Started the season as the closer, but struggled with giving up the home run.  Still can be a very good reliever.

Honorable Mention: Jared Mitchell, OF, Birmingham Barons-  .289/.409/.482 .891 OPS 7 2B 6 3B 1 HR 25 RBI 8 SB.  The Sox need this kid to come back and become the player they think he can.  He could be a force with his speed.

This is not only great news for Chris Sale and the Chicago White Sox, but it’s also great news for Addison Reed and the fans. Chris Sale starting and Addison Reed closing helps the Chicago White Sox win more games than Addison Reed in the bullpen and Chris Sale closing. Even if Chris Sale is shut down later in the season, 100+ innings of Sale is better than the 65+ innings he would give the Chicago White Sox out of the bullpen. And this forces Robin Ventura’s hand – hopefully – to use Addison Reed as the team’s closer. I’ve been on the Addison Reed bandwagon since last year, and was the major reason I was fine with the Sergio Santos trade, so please use him as your closer, Robin.

I really think the Chicago White Sox panicked when Chris Sale said he felt discomfort in his throwing elbow, assuming the worst case scenario with their left-hander. Personally, I think that discomfort was just the normal wear and tear a starting pitcher gets from pitching every fifth day. Obviously I can’t speak for Chris Sale and the White Sox training staff, but when the news first broke, that’s the first thing that came to mind.

Apparently, the plan is contingent with a monitoring process with Chris Sale, and he must be honest with the White Sox staff on how he feels, which is a dangerous precedent considering what we have seen when Chris Sale said he had discomfort.

Who knows what the future holds for Chris Sale. But if the Chicago White Sox want now and in the future, Chris Sale needs to anchor that starting rotation, with Addison Reed closing games out.

Alejandro De Aza is something the Chicago White Sox haven’t had since the great Ray Durham, and that is a legitimate leadoff hitter. If you want to include the one good season Scott Podsednik had in 2005, I’ll let it slide because he was an integral part during that magical World Series run. But outside of that, we have seen the likes of Juan Pierre and DeWayne Wise. Gross.

Not counting Alejandro De Aza’s 2-4 performance tonight against the Cleveland Indians, he was only trailing Paul Konerko in terms of fWAR at 1.1. While I am slowly moving away from WAR when I am evaluating a player, I still believe it has some value when you discuss players like Alejandro De Aza. You can’t really put a value on his defense and running abilities but at least WAR tries to. Even without looking at it sabermetrically, Alejandro De Aza is still one of the better player on the Chicago White Sox, possibly even the American League as a whole. Alejandro De Aza ranks near the top in runs, hits, walks, and stolen bases, further proving why he is one of the better leadoff hitters in the game.

The White Sox found a gem in Alejando De Aza. He truly is De Awesome.

Bryan is a featured writer for Rant Sports. Although he concentrates mostly on the game of baseball, you can find him covering things all over the Rant Sports Network. 

After failing to record the save in last night’s 5-3 win over the Cleveland Indians, news came out today that Chris Sale is going to have an MRI on his elbow. While having a MRI is never a good thing, I’m not going to panic yet assuming it’s just an exploratory MRI to see if there is any damage to his pitching elbow. If the MRI checks out, Chris Sale might head back into the starting rotation, with Addison Reed assuming the closing duties.

Health concerns aside, this is by far the best decision the team could make. Chris Sale proved he can start in the Big Leagues, it’s just a durability issue with him. In regards to Addison Reed, he’s easily the White Sox best reliever and should have closed games from the get-go. But I have my own theory on why Reed isn’t the closer, and it’s strictly financial.

The Chicago White Sox have plenty of experience in dealing with rookie closers, given that Bobby Jenks was with the team from 2005-2010. During that stretch, Jenks racked up the saves, allowing him to earn millions of dollars during arbitration in the process. In Jenks’ last year with the White Sox, he made over $8 million due to the way arbitration works.

If the Chicago White Sox close games with Addison Reed now, he will rack up around 150-200 saves by the time his clock is up, costing the White Sox millions of dollars in the process. Hopefully that’s the reason behind Reed not closing, because it doesn’t make any sense otherwise.

I’m praying this MRI comes out positive for Chris Sale, since the White Sox need him now and for the future. If his elbow is fine, disable him, let him start, and use Addison Reed as closer. At the very least, make up your mind and stop “Jobaing” him by dangling between the bullpen and starting rotation.

Bryan is a featured writer for Rant Sports. Although he concentrates mostly on the game of baseball, you can find him covering things all over the Rant Sports Network. 

“We’re doing it because we feel it’s best for him, his career and his health. It’s the best way to keep him healthy and strong. It gives us the best opportunity to do that. It’s easier to maintain that and keeping tabs on this in the bullpen than it is as a starter. We already know he’s a good left-handed reliever. That’s been proven over the past 1½ years. Now we’ll be trying to make him one of the best left handed relievers in baseball, not just in the American League.

While I was writing this, I tweeted White Sox beat writer Scott Merkin and asked if this was a permanent move or just for this season.  I got a quick reply and this is what he said

Scott Merkin ‏@scottmerkin

@sager729 It’s temporarily permanent ~

My thinking is that the Sox would rather have a dominant closer over a starting pitcher who would injured this season.  This is not a permanent move for past this season in my opinion, Sale just has to get his throwing arm stronger.  He has ace type ability and I believe he will still be an ace for this Chicago White Sox team in the next few seasons.  But right now, he just needs to get his arm stronger and dominate out of the bullpen.

With Sale in the bullpen, the White Sox quite possibly have the best bullpen in all of baseball.  With Addison Reed, Jesse Crain and Matt Thornton taking care of the 7th and 8th innings and Sale closing out games, not many teams will get comeback wins once the Sox get into those 4 guys.  Then you have guys like Hector Santiago, Nate Jones, Zach Stewart and Will Ohman that will clean up the ugly starts and big leads.  That is a very good bullpen to match with a very talented starting rotation.

"It's not disappointing to us, it's disappointing to him because this was something he's always want to do,'' pitching coach Don Cooper said

May 4, 2012 4:53 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@CST_soxvan

Daryl Van Schouwen

Cooper: "We're not making this decision based on what's best for the team because obviously he's starting and doing well.''

May 4, 2012 4:54 pm via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@CST_soxvan

Daryl Van Schouwen

This is basically the nice way of saying he can’t handle the workload as a starting pitcher. Given Chris Sale’s body make-up and delivery, it’s not that surprising he can’t handle the switch, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less, especially since he has been doing so well. In five starts this year, Sale has a 3-1 record, a 2.81 ERA, and has a K/9 of 8.2.

Dylan Axelrod is taking Chris Sale’s spot in the rotation. The 26-year old right-hander started three games for the White Sox last year, winning one of them. He was called up a little bit ago when Jesse Crain was put on the DL – but prior to that – Axelrod dominated in Triple-A Charlotte. In four starts, he had an ERA of 1.08 while striking out more than a batter an inning.

Even if Axelrod works out, it really stinks Chris Sale isn’t going to make it as a starting pitcher. I’m giving up on him already if Cooper is dropping quotes like that. The dreaded “tender elbow” is similar to the “shoulder discomfort” that Mark Prior had seemingly every year in his career. If Billy Pierce complained about general soreness back in the 50s, he wouldn’t have been moved to the bullpen, he just would have thrown 200 innings instead of 250. But given this picture, the infamous “inverted W” is clearly illustrated.

Seriously, the babying of pitchers in this era is some of the most aggrevating stuff I’ve had to deal with as a baseball fan. I’m not trying to trash Chris Sale because I love him and think he is a fantastic pitcher, but I just want to know what a “tender elbow” means. Whatever. What’s done is done. The Chicago White Sox will be without their best starting pitcher – that’s right I said it – because he has a tender elbow. Can anything go the White Sox way? Cripes!

The bullpen is now stacked with lefties and no righties to speak of, which could be bad news when they face the likes of Miguel Cabrera and what not.

Panicking aside, I hope Sale is able to return to the rotation because his value as a starting pitchers exceeds his value as a reliever. So rest up, Chris. We need you.

SP Nestor Molina- The White Sox top prospect if off to a pretty good start through his first 5 starts with Birmingham with a 3.56 ERA in 30.1 innings pitched.  He has 23 strikeouts to just 3 walks.

SP Jose Quintana- The lefty has an ERA of 2.76 in 29.1 innings with a K/BB ratio of 22/8 and 27 hits given up.

SP Cameron Bayne- Bayne has a 2.61 ERA in 20.2 innings pitched giving up 16 hits with 15 strike outs but also giving up 15 walks.

RP Henry Mabee- Mabee is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 13 innings with 6 Ks and 5 BBs.

RP Nevin Griffith- He also has a 0.00 ERA in 10.1 innings with 6 Ks and 5 BBs.

CF Jared Mitchell-  Mitchell has bounced back from a bad 2011 with a great start to the 2012 season with a slash line of .341/.471/.561 for an OPS of 1.032.  He has 5 doubles, 5 triples, 1 home run and 20 RBI.  He also has 6 SB in 7 attempts.  If he can bounce back and become a legitimate option at the top of the order for the Whtite Sox as soon as next season, it will make Robin Ventura’s life a little better.

SS Drew Garcia-  Garcia is off to a good start with a .311/.380/.467 line with 7 doubles, 2 triples, 1 home run and 16 RBI.

The big name on this list is Jared Mitchell who can really become a great leadoff hitter if he continues to work.  Molina is the top prospect and the best thing to keep you eye on with him is his walk total.  He just doesn’t walk people even when he is just working on certain pitches.

SP Dylan Axelrod- Axelrod was actually just called up to the big league club due to Jesse Crain being placed on the DL.  But while with Charlotte, Axelrod had a 1.08 ERA through his first 4 starts.  He had a 26/4 K/BB ratio with 19 hits allowed in 25 innings pitched.

SP Eric Stults- Stults has been great in the Charlotte rotation with a 2.08 ERA in 4 starts.  He has 21 strikeouts to 10 walks in 21 innings.

RP Brian Bruney- Bruney was one of the last guys cut from the major league team at the end of Spring Training.  But has pitched very well out of the Knights pen with a 1.50 ERA with 12 Ks and 7 BBs in 12 innings pitched.

RP Leyson Septimo-  He has yet to let a run cross the plate with his 0.00 ERA in 10.2 IP.  He has a K/BB ratio of 11/8 while giving up 5 hits.

C Josh Phegley- Josh has an amazing slash line of .397/.423/.559 with 6 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run and 8 RBI in 68 plate appearances.  He also has been very hard to strike out only fanning 7 times.

1B Dan Johnson- The veteran has been very good  at the plate hitting .303/.466/.545 for an OPS of 1.011.  He will be first in line to come up if Adam Dunn or Paul Konerko are forced onto the disabled list.

OF Jordan Danks- Danks is finally starting to put together a nice offensive season.  He has a line of .275/.409/.435 with 3 doubles, 1 triple and 2 home runs with 11 RBI.  Already has 17 walks to help that over .400 OBP.  Still could turn into a productive 4th outfielder.

The Chicago White Sox do have some players here that could come up if needed and produce.

Beckham, 25, comes into today hitting an abysmal .153/.231/.203 for a terrible .434 OPS.  He only has 3 doubles and 2 RBI.  The White Sox and their fans were expecting Beckham to be a doubles machine with decent home run power.  Gordon is probably his own worst enemy.  He is very hard on himself, the same way that a young Paul Konerko was with the White Sox.  Beckham is the type of player that could just snap out of this and become a very good hitter or he could just need a change of scenery.  There has been some rumblings around the team that Beckham could be sent down to AAA Charlotte to work on some things.

Morel has not been any better at the plate than Beckham.  Morel has started the 2012 season with a line of .178/.221./.205 with 2 doubles an 3 RBI.  Morel was expected to pick up where he left off last season after a very good last 2 months of the 2011 season.  Morel does have good defense at the hot corner, but the White Sox need offense from third base, especially with Beckahm not producing at 2nd.

The White Sox do have some players that they could call on to see if they can produce.  On the roster right now, the Sox have Brent Lillibridge and Eduardo Escobar that could step in at either 2nd or 3rd base right away.  If the team was to look at the minors for some help, some names that they would look to at second base would be Tyler Kuhn at AAA Charlotte and Tyler Saladino at AA Birmingham.  At third base, they could look to someone like Dallas McPherson with AAA Charlotte or they could sacrifice some defense and call up veteran Dan Johnson who has an OBP of .466 at AAA Charlotte.  Johnson is primarily a first baseman/designated hitter.

In the end, these two have to either start hitting or be replaced if manager Robin Ventura wants to keep his Chicago White Sox in contention in the AL Central.

Let’s start with Alex Rios, who has a slash line of .333/.396/.511 for an OPS of .907.  He has 3 doubles, 1 triple, 1 home run and 7 RBI.  He has 4 walks and just 6 strike outs.  He has played a much better defense in right field than he played center field in 2011.  The biggest difference is that Rios isn’t trying to pull everything for a home run, he is driving the ball to right and right center field.  Obviously, nobody expects Rios to continue with these numbers, but if he can end with something around .285/.355/.440 for an OPS of .815, that would give the White Sox a great chance to be in contention.

Adam Dunn was even worse than Rios last year.  But Dunn has looked like he has turned things around with the help of new hitting coach Jeff Manto.  He could still do better but it is good to see him making adjustments and hitting the ball to all fields.  Dunn is top 10 in RBI with 13 to go with 6 doubles and 3 home runs.  It is known that Dunn will strike out 180 times and walk 100 and he is on his way to both of those numbers.  He already has 24 strike outs and 9 walks.  His slash line reads .246/.348/.509 for an OPS of .857.

The Chicago White Sox need both of these guys to produce at much better levels than last year to go with guys like Paul Konerko, AJ Pierzynski and Alexei Ramirez for the White Sox to have a chance to compete with the best in the AL.