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Spring Training brought a completely different atmosphere for the Chicago White Sox than they have right now. Whereas now GM Rick Hahn is racing to see how many veterans he can shed before the end of August via waiver trades, then there was hope for an improved season that could have included the post season. Along with those hopes were the hopes that starter John Danks would be able to seamlessly return from injury and have a fully successful comeback season. Unfortunately none of that happened.
For a pitcher to return from injury too soon is as bad as not rehabbing at all. One little part of that elbow being re-injured could set the entire process back to the beginning or even cost him his career. Because of that Danks did not get the chance to start the 2013 season with full healthy spring training. By the time he returned to the pitching rotation it was already clear just how bad the White Sox were going to be. That had to take the gusto off of the chance he had for a great year.
During Danks’ last three starts there have been signs of hope however. He is starting to look more like a consistent version of the pitcher he wanted to be at the end of spring training. Obviously he will not win any awards for his comeback this year but perhaps he should at least get something for his effort. Chances are if everyone on the White Sox roster gave as much as people like Danks did all year long, they wouldn’t be in this shape.
So he has a couple of no decisions in his last few starts but he also has pitched at least six innings in each and only given up seven total runs. Maybe next season will be the year not only for the White Sox to rebound but also for Danks to get the full chance to show he is back to where he was before and even better.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
