Rating the White Sox's starting rotation

The White Sox have their sights set on winning the World Series for the first time since 2005.

There are still five months to play in the regular season, which is too far to even squint and see the finish line.

But if the Sox are going to claim the coveted championship trophy, the starting rotation needs to step up even higher.

Over the first month, White Sox starters were the best in the American League by a pretty wide margin.

"The optimum that every team looks for is to have a chance to win with your starting pitcher every time you take the field," manager Tony La Russa said. "It's really important because if you're going to win, you start it by stopping the other club, and you've got to stop them with your starter.

"So having a deep starting rotation, especially if you look at the competition in this league, it's necessary."

Not only has the rotation given the Sox a chance to win just about every time out so far, the depth is enviable.

Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel and Lance Lynn hold the top three slots, followed by Dylan Cease and Carlos Rodon. Michael Kopech is still building endurance after missing the last two seasons, but he's been overpowering in a pair of spot starts.

Taking a closer look at April, Rodon is off to a Cy Young start, Cease is trending upward and Lynn is off the injured list. Giolito and Keuchel have the most room to improve:

Giolito

The White Sox's ace has had a really good outing, 7 scoreless innings vs. the Indians. He's had a really bad one, giving up 7 earned runs in 1 inning at Boston.

The other 3 have been so-so, which is why Giolito is 1-2 with a 5.68 ERA moving into May.

Once he regains a firm feel on the changeup, Giolito should be back at an elite level.

Keuchel

The veteran lefty made it look so easy last year, his first season with the Sox.

Keuchel was 6-2 with a 1.99 ERA in 2020, but he was 1-1 with a 4.65 ERA in April and pitched into the sixth inning only two times in 6 trips to the mound.

Getting left-handed hitters out has been a big problem for Keuchel. They're batting .385 (10-for-26) in the early going.

"It's more so my two-seam (fastball) command," Keuchel said. "It's kind of a mystery, but that's going to be the big thing going forward. If I could get back to myself and make sure the lefties aren't doing anything, you'll see me start to climb."

Lynn

He came off the IL Saturday and started against the Indians after missing two weeks with a strained right trapezius.

Getting Lynn back is huge for the White Sox. The 33-year-old righty allowed only 2 earned runs over 19⅔ innings in his first 3 starts and he's ready to get back to being a workhorse.

Cease

Seemingly in danger of losing his starting job to Kopech after four straight abbreviated outings to open the season, the 25-year-old righty took action with a 7-inning shutout against the Tigers Thursday in Game 2 of a doubleheader.

Cease stymied Detroit with a nasty curve and commanded his fastball while throwing only 91 pitches.

Rodon

Yermin Mercedes was the most surprising hitter in baseball in April, and Rodon can stake the same claim on the pitching side.

Finally healthy, the lefty threw a no-hitter vs. the Indians and has allowed only 2 earned runs over 16 innings in his other 3 starts.

"I think the work we put in the off-season, during spring it just carried over," Rodon said. "I just want to keep going with it, keep running with it."

As for Kopech, he might make a few more spot starts as the season progresses, but the Sox aren't going to push his workload. In his 2 starts, Kopech has allowed 2 runs in 8 innings while piling up 14 strikeouts.

"I understand I'm going to have to be restricted this year just because I haven't had a full season coming off the (Tommy John) surgery," Kopech said. "Of course, if it was up to me I'd be trying to put myself out there every five days. But we have an incredible rotation right now and with the way everything's going, I'm happy coming out of the bullpen."

ERA watch

American League ERA leaders through April.

TEAM

WHITE SOX, 3.11

Astros, 3.65

Twins, 3.77

Yankees, 3.79

Red Sox, 3.94

INDIVIDUAL

Carlos Rodon, WHITE SOX, 0.72

Gerrit Cole, Yankees, 1.43

Tyler Glasnow, Rays, 1.67

John Means, Orioles, 1.70

Kyle Gibson, Rangers, 2.16

•Minimum 25 innings pitched