The No. Five Who Got Away

Talent-wise, Chris Bassitt isn’t another Earl Battey, Johnnie Callison, Norm Cash or Denny McLain, all players once belonging to the White Sox who achieved success elsewhere.  But that doesn’t mean Bassitt has less than major-league talent.

When he came up with the White Sox in 2014, I immediately noticed how he critiqued his outings, like Lucas Giolito minus the psychobabble.  With Bassitt, it was basically “throw strikes all the time and shame on me when I don’t.”  I also liked that Bassitt was from Toledo by way of the University of Akron and a 16^th round pick in the 2011 draft.  In other words, Sox scouts took the time to find a diamond in the rough.  Naturally, Bassitt got traded—along with Marcus Simien and Josh Phegley—to Oakland that off-season.

And now, finally, at the age of 30 with injuries seemingly behind him, Bassitt has blossomed into a dependable no. 5 starter.  Yesterday, he went eight scoreless innings to beat his former team 2-0 and go 8-5 on the year with a 3.56 ERA.  Compare that to anyone the Sox have trotted out at no. 5 in the rotation this season.  I could name names, but why speak ill of the modestly talented?

Bassitt definitely knew who he was facing.  “Every time I pitch against these guys for my career, I’m going to prove to them they made a mistake,” the 6’5” right-hander told reporters after the game.  “That’s the reality of it.  Anyone that says different is lying.  So, yeah, any time I pitch against these guys, they’re going to get my ‘A’ game.”

When he was Sox general manager, Kenny Williams was always on the lookout for grinders.  He drafted one in Bassitt, only to give him away for a season’s worth of Jeff Samardzija.  But that’s in the past, and now we’re in a rebuild.  Someday, after all the necessary boxes have been checked, we’re going to have enough talent on hand to beat the likes of Chris Bassitt—or at least score a run off of him.