Arizona Dreamin'

The White Sox have named 25-year old Sean Burke as their Opening Day starter. The righthander has all of nineteen innings pitched in his MLB career. I’m not complaining. Burke looked good last September over the course of those nineteen innings, going 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA in three starts. Expected to follow Burke in the rotation are Jonathan Cannon; Davis Martin; Martin Perez; and someone known but to God and manager Will Venable. Burke, Martin and Perez have all looked good in their spring starts while Cannon looks like he wants to pitch himself back to Triple-A, with a 10.32 ERA in four starts. As for the unknown fifth starter, we live in different times. Because prospects Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz have shown enough to be part of the conversation. By this time next year, I’m sure they will be. But rebuilds can’t be rushed, especially if it means the Sox devoting one season of control over them in what would be a “lost” season. Never mind that fans would pay to see those two along with Burke, Martin and Perez. Pitching for Sox, not the Barons. Oh, well, I can dream.