Sox' Danks likes where he's at, says it's only going to get better
It's July 1 of last season, several hours before the White Sox play the Cleveland Indians at U.S. Cellular Field.
John Danks, the Sox' scheduled starting pitcher that night, is seated in front of his locker and he's a little annoyed.
Seated next to Danks is his younger brother Jordan. The White Sox had drafted the promising outfielder out of the University of Texas in June, and Jordan is fielding questions from two reporters during his first visit to the Cell.
"Quit slouching," chides John, who is 16 months older. "Sit up straight and answer the questions."
Just four months earlier, there were plenty of questions about John Danks. The most common was - can he pitch?
After being acquired in a trade from the Texas Rangers for another promising young starter (Brandon McCarthy) on Dec. 23, 2006, Danks beat out Gavin Floyd for the final spot in the Sox' rotation during spring training.
The rookie was good in the first half of the 2007 season (5-6, 4.62 ERA), but not so good in the second half (1-7, 7.11).
After heading back home to Round Rock, Texas, for the winter, Danks added bulk to his body, a cut fastball to his pitching arsenal and threw in some mental maturity for good measure.
When he arrived at camp last spring, the left-hander's overall growth quickly came into play.
"It was a good season for me personally," said Danks, 12-9 with a stellar 3.32 ERA in his second season on the South Side. "Obviously, we wanted to do bigger and better things as a team, but it did finish up great for me."
Did it ever.
Not only did Danks rank fifth in the American League in ERA, he pitched his best game of the season when the White Sox needed it most.
Facing the Minnesota Twins at the Cell on Sept. 30 in the tiebreaking game for the AL Central title and a playoff berth, the 23-year-old starter allowed just 2 hits over 8 scoreless innings to spark a 1-0 victory.
"I try not to think about it too much," Danks said at SoxFest late last month. "It was great. It was probably my favorite game of all time, obviously. But baseball is a humbling sport, and as soon as you think you've got it figured out baseball will come and bite you in the butt.
"I'm trying to stay levelheaded and just trying to work as hard, or harder, than I did last the last couple years and build upon what I've already started."
Danks' success continued in the postseason, when he recorded the Sox' only win over Tampa Bay after allowing 3 runs on 7 hits over 62/3 innings in Game 3.
A big question mark at this time last year, Danks has turned into an exclamation point.
"I'm definitely going to try to apply the things I experienced and noticed from last year to this year," Danks said. "I felt like I had some success last year, but it's not nearly as much as success as I think I will have in the future. I'm looking forward to taking another big stride forward."
While at least one publication (Baseball Prospectus) has picked the White Sox to finish last in the AL Central, Danks is expecting a return trip to the playoffs.
"To have people say we going to finish, what, fourth, in the division last year and then go ahead and win, it was very satisfying," Danks said. "And I feel like we're talented enough to win it again this year.
"It was a little bittersweet to get knocked out of the first round of the playoffs. It kind of stung a little bit, but I know we're going to do everything we can to get back."
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EARNING THEIR KEEP
Major-league pitchers with the most improved ERAs last season:
Ervin Santana, Angels 5.76 (2007) 4.49 (2008) 2.27 (Difference)
John Danks, WHITE SOX 5.50 - 3.32 - 2.18
Kyle Davies, Royals 6.09 - 4.06 - 2.03
Mike Mussina, Yankees 5.15 - 3.37 - 1.78
Scott Olsen, Marlins 5.81 - 4.20 - 1.61