White Sox’ rotation good, could be grrrreat

Spring training is roughly half way over, and it’s already clear the White Sox’ starting rotation is going to be good.

If everything falls their way, the Sox could be great.

Just about everything hinges on Jake Peavy’s right posterior lat muscle, which completely detached in July.

Peavy has thus far rebounded from a radical surgery with flying colors, and the 29-year-old starter has looked good in his first 2 Cactus League outings, allowing 1 run on 1 hit in 5 innings.

The White Sox are prepared for a “blip” in Peavy’s recovery, which is code for a setback.

Should it come at the end of training camp or at some point during the season, the White Sox are likely to turn to nonroster invitee Phil Humber for help in the rotation.

If not, the fivesome of Peavy, Mark Buehrle, John Danks, Edwin Jackson and Gavin Floyd stacks up as the best in the American League Central and one of top units in baseball.

How good can Peavy be?

That’s the biggest question facing the Sox this season.

It’s pretty safe to assume Peavy isn’t going to go 19-6 with a 2.54 ERA and win the Cy Young Award like he did with the Padres in 2007.

The right-hander has been a mechanical mess since joining the White Sox in a July 31, 2009 trade from San Diego.

An ankle injury with the Padres earlier in 2009 forced Peavy to alter his throwing motion in 3 regrettable starts with the Sox at the end of that season, and it carried over into last year.

Peavy showed some flashes of his old self in 2010 while going 7-6 with a 4.83 ERA in 17 starts, but he was dealing with shoulder and elbow issues before his lat blew out.

If he stays healthy this year, Peavy figures to win 12-15 games. Anything else would be a bonus; anything less could be costly to the White Sox’ postseason aspirations.

What’s up with Buehrle?

The workhorse left-hander is going to start his franchise-record ninth opening-day game April 1 at Cleveland, and he’s won back-to-back Gold Gloves.

Now for the bad news.

Buehrle is coming off a so-so 13-13 season and his ERA in 2010 was 4.28, not bad, but his highest since 2006.

As usual, the 31-year-old starter was knocked around pretty good, tying Tampa Bay’s James Shields for most hits allowed in the AL (246) and ranking first with a .295 batting average against.

Not surprisingly, Buehrle avoided serious damage by getting 19 double-play grounders, leading the majors with 11 pickoffs and allowing a career-low 17 home runs, but overall he performed like a pitcher on the decline.

How about Danks and Floyd?

Since they both joined the Sox’ rotation in 2007, Danks and Floyd are often lumped together.

But there is some separation taking place, and Danks is on the rise while Floyd is heading the opposite way.

Danks established career high in wins (15), innings pitched (213) and strikeouts (162) last season and he can make a strong case for being the White Sox’ No. 1 starter.

Floyd had a remarkable run from early June to early August last year when he allowed 2 runs or less in 12 straight outings, but the right-hander started slowly and was shut down at the end of the season with a sore shoulder.

It was the second straight year he was injured in September, so Floyd shed 20 pounds during the off-season in an attempt to go the distance.

The other guy

That would be Edwin Jackson, who came over from the Diamondbacks in a July 30 trade for promising young starter Daniel Hudson.

Jackson struggled with Arizona (6-10, 5.16 ERA) despite throwing a 149-pitch no-hitter, but he was much more efficient with the White Sox (4-2, 3.24 ERA).

Anybody else?

If Peavy has any setbacks, Humber has been showing enough to get the first call to take his spot.

Chris Sale is still considered a future starter with the Sox, but the big left-hander is entrenched in the bullpen this season and he should emerge as the new closer.