Is Downers Grove native Zack Burdi close to joining Chicago White Sox?
Growing up in Downers Grove, Zack Burdi said he always looked forward to going to White Sox games and watching Mark Buehrle, Frank Thomas and Paul Konerko.
Drafted by the Sox with the No. 26 overall pick in June, the right-handed pitcher was understandably thrilled.
“To have the opportunity to be a part of the organization and have that opportunity placed in front of me is something I'm grateful for,” Burdi said. “I can't thank the White Sox organization enough.”
Like most draft picks, Burdi wasn't making any predictions on when he'd actually join the Sox, but the 21-year-old reliever has already performed well enough at four minor-league levels — the Arizona League White Sox, high Class A Winston-Salem, AA Birmingham and AAA Charlotte — to warrant serious consideration.
On Thursday 25-man rosters can be expanded, and Burdi's name is definitely on the Sox's short list of call-up candidates.
“He's sure making it difficult,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. “It's funny, one of the things we want Zack to work on is his consistency with his delivery out of the stretch. The only problem is he's not allowing any baserunners on, so he's not really having a lot of opportunity to work on that. We are going to tell him to put more guys on.
“In all seriousness, a lot has already been thrown at this kid and he's responded essentially to every outing. It's been a lot about the consistency of his delivery and fastball command and fairly simplistic stuff that he's taken to very quickly, and he's got a world of ability. Whether it's in September or it's next year, I think it's not too far away that he's going to be able to help our big-league club.”
In 7 relief appearances with Charlotte, Burdi is 1-0 with a 1.38 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 13 innings. Overall, the 6-foot-3, 205-pounder is 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA in 24 minor-league appearances with 48 strikeouts in 35 innings.
The White Sox's bullpen had another rough go in Tuesday night's 8-4 loss at Detroit.
With the Sox leading 3-2 after 5 innings, the Tigers scored 3 runs off reliever Matt Albers and 2 off Jacob Turner.
Todd Frazier gave the Sox the early lead with a 2-run homer (No. 33) in the second inning