Chicago White Sox's starting rotation shaping up as a strength in 2020

It looks like the Chicago White Sox's off-season wish list has taken a noticeable turn.

Pulling into the all-star break, the Sox's offense was in pretty high gear as Jose Abreu, James McCann, Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson and Eloy Jimenez were taking turns making sure scoring runs was not an issue.

The White Sox's starting rotation was another story.

There was Lucas Giolito, who was 11-3 with a 3.15 ERA over the first half, good enough for a trip to his first All-Star Game.

After that, there were a variety of issues.

Reynaldo Lopez had the highest ERA (6.34) in the major leagues before the break, Dylan Cease had a grand total of 1 start, and Carlos Rodon went down in May with an elbow injury that required season-ending Tommy John surgery.

Ivan Nova? The Sox's lone established veteran in the rotation was not much better than Lopez in the first half of the season, but he's locked in and is currently one of the hottest starters in baseball with 2 complete games in his last 5 starts.

Lopez also has pulled himself together after the all-star break, Cease is showing more and more flashes of greatness, Giolito is legit, and Michael Kopech (Tommy John) is expected to be 100 percent healthy well before spring training gets going.

The White Sox's top two pitching prospects, Dane Dunning and Jimmy Lambert, also are recovering from Tommy John and should be back at various points in 2020.

"Even right now, you can see we have a lot of talent here," Lopez said through a translator. "We are guys that can throw and can be effective, and we are still missing a few guys that are in the minors or on the (injured list) rehabbing. As soon as we have all the pieces together, I think we are going to be a very, very strong rotation because all of us have good arms.

"We all can throw over 90 (mph), even in the upper 90s, too. We all are going to be healthy and then we are going to be, for sure, one of the best rotations in the league."

Even with Giolito, Lopez, Cease and a healthy Kopech in 2020, the White Sox are still a starter short.

They have the money to make a run at a Gerrit Cole, Madison Bumgarner, Zack Wheeler or possibly Stephen Strasburg on the free-agent market. The Sox are loaded with outfield prospects, so they also could trade for a needed veteran starting pitcher.

"We have a young group, a young core, that will continue to be going out there and be guided and driven," manager Rick Renteria said. "Obviously, you'd like to make sure that they're surrounded by guys that know how to go about doing what they do and have had some success. Guys that will be able to impart bits of information and knowledge that they've had over the course of their careers and then also, by example, show them what they're capable of doing."

With the window of success set to crack open next season, the Sox are looking forward to adding high-end young hitters such as Luis Robert, Nick Madrigal and Andrew Vaughn.

But with potential holes in right field, designated hitter and first base, the White Sox undoubtedly are going to be looking to add some more offense this winter.

As it stands now, bats are the priority over starting pitchers.