It's official: Rodon joins White Sox' rotation
MILWAUKEE — When he took the mound against the Reds in Game 2 of a doubleheader Saturday at U.S. Cellular Field, Carlos Rodon was ostensibly making a spot start.
When the White Sox' prized 22-year-old rookie returns to the mound Friday night at Oakland, he will be a full-time starting pitcher.
“The best part of it is he gets to use everything,” manager Robin Ventura said. “When he goes in there as a reliever, he's just trying to get in and out as fast as he can. Now with that start that he had, he's able to use maybe his changeup a little more and have a little more variety than just fastball-slider. And I think command-wise he's going to be better with that.”
There has been all sorts of speculation that Rodon will be limited to 150-160 innings since he was pitching college ball at North Carolina State at this time one year ago.
The Sox are going to keep a close eye on Rodon's workload, but nothing is set in stone.
“We are going to monitor Carlos' stuff and health and effectiveness and what Carlos is reporting as we go through this process,” general manager Rick Hahn said. “At the end of the season, he may well be at 150 (innings); he could be lower than that depending on how he feels and how he is responding to a professional workload. This is going to be a process.”
Defensive woes:
There was more sloppy defense on display in the first inning Tuesday at Miller Park, and third baseman Conor Gillaspie's miscue in the first inning was the Sox' 12th error in the last nine games.
“We saw (last Thursday) where we put ourselves in a great position where we hit the cutoff man and were able to back pick a guy (Detroit's James McCann) at first,” Rick Hahn said. “Right there just shows the importance of being fundamentally sound.
“Again, that remains a point of emphasis. We last talked about this stuff a week or whatever it has been. The performance has been better, but it's not where it needs to be and guys know that.”
Noesi to bullpen:
Carlos Rodon replaces Hector Noesi in the rotation, giving the Sox four left-handed starters. Noesi, who was hit in the back by a Billy Hamilton line drive in Game 1 against Cincinnati on Saturday, is 0-3 with a 5.94 ERA in five games (4 starts) this season.
“Hector Noesi will be available out of the bullpen here the next turn through the rotation, but Hector will also be starting games again over the course of this process,” Rick Hahn said. “We're going to need more than just the five guys this turn through to contribute. Hector will be a part of that.”