Reed expected to pitch in soon for Sox
In retrospect, White Sox general manager Kenny Williams made a monumental mistake last season when he traded rookie starting pitcher Daniel Hudson to the Diamondbacks for veteran Edwin Jackson.
Assuming he returns as GM next season, don’t expect Williams to make the same mistake with Addison Reed.
Hudson was a minor-league marvel in 2009, starting at Class A Kannapolis and quickly moving up to A Winston-Salem, AA Birmingham and AAA Charlotte before joining the Sox in September.
Last season he was traded to Arizona for Jackson. This year Hudson is 16-10 with a 3.39 ERA for the upstart Diamondbacks, who are on the verge of clinching first place in the National League West.
Jackson, meanwhile, was traded from the White Sox to the Toronto Blue Jays in July and immediately flipped to the St. Louis Cardinals, his seventh team in the last seven seasons.
Speaking of the Sox, they lost to the Royals 7-2 Thursday night at Kauffman Stadium and were officially eliminated from the AL Central race.
It has long been time to look to the future with the White Sox, and Reed has all but secured a roster spot for 2012 and beyond.
“Addison Reed has a great opportunity, a great opportunity, to be a good big-league pitcher,” manager Ozzie Guillen said. “His fastball is a big-league fastball. His changeup is outstanding. I don’t know about his breaking ball. His breaking ball, it will get better.”
Selected on the third round of last year’s draft after playing with Stephen Strasburg at San Diego State, Reed pitched at Advanced Rookie Great Falls in 2010 and allowed just 6 earned runs over 30 innings in 13 games (2 starts).
Reed pitched exclusively out of the bullpen this season while taking the same route as Hudson — Kannapolis, Winston-Salem, Birmingham and Charlotte.
The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder was a combined 2-1 with a 1.26 ERA and 5 saves, and Reed’s 111 strikeouts (in 78⅓ innings) were the most by any minor-league relief pitcher.
“I don’t know (Hudson), but I’ve heard how we both kind of did the same thing,” Reed said. “It’s definitely been a crazy year. Never did I realistically think that I’d end up here at the end of the year.
“I started off at Kannapolis and I was there for a couple weeks. I thought maybe I’d finish the year off in Winston-Salem, and then I got the call I was going to Birmingham.
“At that point I was saying to myself, ‘I’m going to keep throwing as well as I can and see how the rest of this year unfolds.’”
It has unfolded very well for Reed.
The White Sox purchased the right-hander’s contract Sept. 2, and Reed has allowed 1 run over 4⅔ innings while striking out eight.
Reed’s fastball has hit 98 mph, and his changeup has come a long way since spring training.
“It’s a pitch I’ve been working on,” Reed said. “I’m starting to throw it more because I feel more comfortable with it.”
sgregor@dailyherald.com