Ostrowski: Judging Danks' role as fifth starter
Is John Danks bad or just an average fifth starter? The debate has continued into the 2016 White Sox season.
The Sox have lost all three of Danks' starts this year, but he did have a quality start against the L.A. Angels on Thursday. His only blemish was a two-run homer by Mike Trout, the 2014 American League MVP.
Things have come full circle for Danks. He's finishing the final two years of his 5-year, $65 million contract as the team's fifth starter. That's how he broke into the league with the White Sox back in 2007.
The Sox understand what Danks represents at this point in his career. They got creative just one week into the season. A postponed game allowed them to push Danks back in the rotation between Chris Sale and Jose Quintana, potentially saving the bullpen down the road.
Danks' numbers have been consistent over the previous three seasons since returning from shoulder surgery in 2013. His ERA has ranged from 4.71 to 4.75 and wins above replacement from zero to +1.1.
Since 76 of their 162 regular season games are in the AL Central, let's look at how the division's fifth starters have fared over the last two seasons. The criteria is the pitcher fifth in wins above replacement on each team, with at least 15 starts.
Cleveland Indians2015: Trevor Bauer +1.5 WAR, 4.55 ERA
2014: Zach McAllister -0.4 WAR, 5.23 ERA
Detroit Tigers2015: Shane Greene -1.8 WAR, 6.88 ERA
2014: Justin Verlander +1.1 WAR, 4.54 ERA
Kansas City Royals2015: Jeremy Guthrie -1.8 WAR, 5.95 ERA
2014: Jeremy Guthrie +1.1 WAR, 4.13 ERA
Guthrie made 24 starts during the Royals 2015 championship run, even though he was pushed to the bullpen with about a month left in the regular season.
Minnesota Twins2015: Tommy Milone +1.4 WAR, 3.92 ERA
2014: Yohan Pino -0.1 WAR, 5.07 ERA
Pino's 11 starts in 2014 was fifth most for Minnesota.
The data shows that if Danks can return to recent form, he's right in line with the other fifth starters in the division. He has provided a quality start 55 percent of the time since 2013.
Danks is collecting nearly $16 million this year, the highest salary on the team. He's being paid $682,000 more than Sale, Quintana, and Carlos Rodon combined.
It's hard to ignore those numbers when the Sox have a payroll in the middle of Major League Baseball and his salary seems to prevent them from improving the roster. But judge Danks on his role as the team's fifth starter.
• Joe Ostrowski is a co-host of the "Hit & Run" baseball show from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on WSCR 670-AM The Score with Barry Rozner. Follow him on Twitter@JoeO670.