White Sox's rotation needs help in 2024 - Mena and Nastrini are on the radar

Instead of waiting until the end of the season, White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said a big reason he decided to fire general manager Rick Hahn and executive vice president Kenny Williams on Aug. 22 was to give Chris Getz more time to clean up a colossal mess.

Promoted to general manager from assistant GM/director of player development the day after his 40th birthday, Getz knew what he was getting into.

"Obviously, it's been disappointing," Getz said of the Sox's season after taking over as general manager on Aug. 31. "You've got to look deep into the organization and the foundation. I spoke of the foundational pillars that we have and it's my job to make sure we're sound in all those areas. The major-league team's a byproduct of the depths of the organization.

"I'm going to pursue excellence in all of those areas and hopefully, that helps clean up our team."

He's only been on the job a week, but it's very likely Getz has already identified a huge issue as he looks to the 2024 season - starting pitching.

Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn were traded before the Aug. 1 deadline. Mike Clevinger was placed on waivers last week. He went unclaimed but the White Sox aren't expected to pick up Clevinger's $12 million option for next year.

That leaves Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech.

Cease finished second in American League Cy Young Award voting last season after going 14-8 with a 2.20 ERA. This year, the 27-year-old righty is 6-7 with a 4.98 ERA.

It would not be a surprise if Cease shakes off the subpar season and returns to his old form in 2024.

Kopech is a different story.

In 2022, his first full season in the Sox's rotation, Kopech was 5-9 with a 3.54 ERA. This year, he's 5-12 with a 5.16 ERA and is tied for the MLB lead in walks (89).

Kopech could pitch out of the bullpen the final three weeks of the season, and it remains to be seen if he'll be back starting next year.

No matter what, Getz is going to have to find multiple arms to fill out the 2024 rotation.

When Getz was promoted, chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said: "We'll do what Chris thinks we ought to do to make us better. Look, we're not going to be in the (Shohei) Ohtani race, I'll tell you that right now. And we're not going to sign pitchers to 10-year deals.

"But we're going to try to get better and that means trades, it potentially means signing free agents, it means playing smarter baseball. It's a lot of things."

It also means checking the farm system for starters, and there are two names to keep an eye on as Getz reshapes the roster.

Cristian Mena is a homegrown product that has made an impressive rise through the system.

Signed out of the Dominican Republic for $250,000 in 2019, Mena made his pro debut with the Sox two years later and did not impress. In 13 games (12 starts) with the Rookie League White Sox, he was 1-4 with a 7.82 ERA.

Mena came back strong the following season and is still trending upward.

"He's a joy to watch," Getz said. "He loves to compete."

Only 20 years old, Mena opened the current season at Class AA Birmingham and was promoted to AAA Charlotte after going 7-6 with a 4.66 ERA and 136 strikeouts over 114 innings in 23 starts.

In 2 starts with Charlotte, the 6-foot-2, 200-pound righty has given up 9 runs in 10 innings.

Nick Nastrini is a trade acquisition who was also recently promoted from Birmingham to Charlotte.

After joining the Sox in the trade that sent Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to the Dodgers, the 23-year-old Nastrini was 3-0 with a 4.22 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 21 innings in 4 starts for Birmingham.

Like Mena, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound righty has struggled early at Triple-A. He has 14 strikeouts over 8⅔ innings with Charlotte but has allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and 7 walks.

Neither prospect is ready to join the White Sox's rotation right now, but they're both on the radar for 2024.

"It's definitely good to see that there's a core group of young players in the minor-league system that can kind of progress through together and get to the show together, help bring a World Series to the White Sox," said Nastrini, the Dodgers' fourth-round draft pick in 2021 out of UCLA. "That's what we all want to do."