Rozner: Quintana not doing White Sox any favors

The White Sox have been remarkably consistent since they left the winter meetings in December.

They have said publicly to the media, and privately to other teams, that they are in no hurry to trade Jose Quintana or any of their most marketable assets.

They have said it over and over and over again, and haven't given the slightest hint of being impatient about making a deal.

They have also stressed that there is no worry over Quintana's awful start to 2017.

"I'm not concerned," manager Rick Renteria said before Tuesday's game. "We try to figure out what it is that's going on, but it's the same guy, the same stuff.

"Truth is, he's missed on location and they've taken advantage of it. All in all, he continues to attack the strike zone.

"I'm not worried about him."

But GM Rick Hahn would only be human if he were getting a little itchy.

Now through a third of the season (11 starts) after facing off against Chris Sale on the South Side Tuesday night, Quintana is still struggling with location and the Red Sox made him pay early and often Tuesday night.

Boston batted around in a 4-run, 22-minute second inning in which Quintana threw 36 pitches.

That's really been the story of Quintana's season, 4 big innings that have accounted for half his earned runs, and he entered Tuesday last in the majors in run support.

As usual.

So the left-hander is not doing Hahn any favors, though the Sox still don't have to rush into anything. Quintana is signed for cheap through 2020 and if they have to wait until the winter meetings or even next summer to maximize value, it won't be a tragedy.

They have to wait now with Quintana off to the worst start of his career, owning a 5.60 ERA after lasting only 2⅔ innings Tuesday and allowing 7 earned runs on 10 hits.

He's allowing more flyballs than groundballs for the first time and has given up 10 home runs, as many as his entire 2014 season. Since then the home run total has gone up each year, to 16 in 2015 and 22 last season.

He's on pace to give up a career-high in 2017.

So yeah, with the ballpark half-empty and subdued, that terrific pitching matchup with Sale didn't exactly materialize Tuesday night, Sale performing nearly as bad as Quintana, allowing 6 runs (5 earned) on 10 hits in 5 innings, throwing 111 pitches, 42 in the second inning alone.

Even with an extra day of rest, Sale in his last 2 starts has given up 10 runs (8 earned) on 16 hits in 12⅓ innings, and it's the third time in 5 starts he's allowed at least 4 earned runs.

There's some concern that his max effort to start the season in a new uniform while trying to impress new teammates might be taking a toll.

But he is no longer the White Sox's problem and they have enough to worry about with Quintana, who has gone from a terrific No. 2 behind Sale to a disastrous No. 1 thus far in 2017.

The argument that the Sox should have made the deal last winter or this spring is without merit unless there was some hurry to give him away, which there wasn't, or some knowledge that he would get off to a terrible start, which no one had.

The only option now is to get Quintana straightened out in the next month and move him in July, in a market that may be flooded, or wait until the off-season.

Either way, Quintana looks broken and needs fixing.

As soon as possible.

brozner@dailyherald.com

• Listen to Barry Rozner from 9 a.m. to noon Sundays on the Score's "Hit and Run" show at WSCR 670-AM and follow him @BarryRozner on Twitter.