State of the Rebuild

Maybe the White Sox shouldn’t be in such a rush with their prospects, after all.  I mean, look what happens when they get here.

On Thursday afternoon, starter Lucas Giolito took it upon himself to pull a Carson Fulmer; no two innings pitched for Giolito.  Instead, the young right-hander managed just four outs, during which time he allowed six hits and three walks while hitting a batter.  Add it all together, and one of the hopes of the rebuild gave up seven runs, all earned.  Giolito (3-5) now has a 7.53 ERA.  As bad as that is, he also leads the AL in walks with 37 and the majors in hit batters with 10.  So, all the work with pitching coach Don Cooper must be paying off.

Going the distance for Baltimore was Dylan Bundy, who entered the game with a 2-6 record and 4.70 ERA.  Those numbers didn’t stop Bundy from throwing a complete-game two hitter.  Oh, and he struck out 14, 11 on breaking balls, and I swear not one of them was in the vicinity of 90 mph.  So, all the work our young hitters are putting in with hitting coach Todd Steverson must be paying off as well.   I particularly like how Bundy threw breaking balls from the start, but nobody in the home dugout seemed to take note.  Nearly all Sox hitters go up looking for the fast ball.  Sliders and curves are foreign to them.

[On the other end of the spectrum is the consistently good Reynaldo Lopez, he of the misleading 1-3 record (and 2.93 ERA).  Lopez went seven strong innings against Detroit on Friday and left with a 4-2 lead; the Sox bullpen quickly turned that into a 5-4 deficit.  How long do you think before the non-decisions—six so far and counting—trigger a dugout or clubhouse explosion?  I’m guessing sooner than later.] 

But, hey, this is a rebuild, and winning isn’t everything; this year is all about developing talent, which is why the Sox signed veteran catcher Wellington Castillo to a two-year contract, so he could help bring the young pitchers  along.  Only Castillo has just been hit with an 80-game suspension for PEDs use.  At least he took responsibility for it.  Better late than never, right?

Sox GM Rick Hahn said Castillo’s suspension won’t “have much of an impact at all” on the success of the rebuild.  Neither will the young talent, from the looks of it.