Jeff Pico

Back in 1988, Cubs’ fans were ready to vote pitcher Jeff Pico into the Hall of Fame after his MLB debut, a complete-game shutout against the Reds. Pico would go 13-12 in his big-league career. I keep that in mind when trying to assess a young pitcher like White Sox rookie Dane Dunning, who needed four games to notch his first major-league win. That happened last night after the 25-year old righty went six-plus innings against the Pirates. Dunning has a 2.70 ERA over twenty innings in his four starts. So far, so good, then, just as long as you keep in mind that all of his starts have come against Detroit, Kansas City and Pittsburgh. Not exactly the Indians and Twins, but you have to start somewhere. Dunning was part of the Lucas Giolito-Adam Eaton trade. If he develops into a good three- or four-starter, great. But we really won’t know until Dunning gets a full year under his belt, at the earliest. Anything less is just Jeff Pico. No offense to the current bullpen coach for the Tigers. Just saying.