Rodon, Anderson give Chicago White Sox hope for the future
If the Chicago White Sox do rebuild this off-season and come back young in 2017, two promising pieces already appear to be in place.
Second-year starting pitcher Carlos Rodon and rookie shortstop Tim Anderson are two promising youngsters for the future, and they both showed why in Friday night's 7-3 win over the Minnesota Twins at U.S. Cellular Field.
Rodon matched an American League (and White Sox) record by striking out the first seven Twins hitters he faced. Former Sox starter Joe Cowley also struck out the first seven hitters in 1986.
Dating back to his last start, Rodon had 10 straight strikeouts, the first major-league pitcher to accomplish that feat since the Los Angeles Dodgers' Eric Gagne in 2003.
"It's nice," the 23-year-old Rodon said after ending the season with a 9-10 record and 4.04 ERA. "I wasn't expecting it this soon, but it's great."
In his last two starts of the season, Rodon pitched 14 innings and allowed 2 earned runs on 5 hits while piling up 21 strikeouts.
"There was some electric stuff coming out," manager Robin Ventura said after Rodon pitched 6 innings against Minnesota and allowed 2 earned runs on 3 hits to go with 10 strikeouts. "He has the ability to do that. He's a horse."
Anderson made a strong bid to become the first White Sox to hit for the cycle since Jose Valentin in 2000. He tripled in the first inning, homered in the third and singled in the sixth. In his final at-bat in the eighth inning, the 23-year-old infielder grounded out.
Anderson has multiple hits in 33 of his 97 games this season.
"He just continues to impress and get better," Ventura said. "The improvements, we're seeing them. He's just maturing a lot quicker than most people do."
Saladino update:
Out since Sept. 23, White Sox infielder Tyler Saladino has a herniated disc in his back and won't play again this season.
Saladino said he's feeling better after receiving an epidural Monday.
"Just kind of letting that do it's thing," Saladino said. "See how that is in a couple of weeks. We are obviously keeping an eye on it every day. They say it can take a full couple of weeks for it to fully do its course."
Saladino's back has been bothering him off and on for much of the season, but the pain intensified before a Sept. 23 game at Cleveland.
"It was kind of crippling for a little bit," Saladino said. "Those first few days, I really was out of commission. I kind of was just trying to find a comfortable spot and stay there. Standing up, it would catch. It was pretty painful. That's how I know it was a little bit more. That's why I went and got that shot to try to let the medicine get there right away. It has been working and helping a lot."
Trade rumblings:
The White Sox could be very active on the trade front this winter, especially if general manager Rick Hahn opts to go young.
If the Sox do decide to rebuild, starting pitcher Jose Quintana would fetch several good young players in a trade.
Quintana established career bests in wins (13), ERA (3.20), innings pitched (208) and strikeouts (181) this season. The left-hander is owed only $14.35 million combined the next two seasons, with $10.5 million club options in 2019-20.
He's a valuable commodity, but Quintana is not interested in trade rumors.
"I don't have control about that," he said. "I don't know nothing about trades. I'm here as a Chicago White Sox, and I want to be here for a long time. I'll go home, rest and am going to be ready to start with my preparation for next year. I'll be ready for that, but I don't have control about trades."