MVN - Most Valuable Network

Do the White Sox Need Another Starting Pitcher?

In a season where the White Sox starting pitching carried the team through the first few months, it feels like the wheels are starting to come off.

I am not saying that it is time to panic (after all the club still ranks second in the league in ERA at 3.64), but there are a number of issues to be concerned about. The lead in the AL Central over the Twins is down to just a half a game, and the club has lost five of their last seven games.

Let’s take a look at each of the five starters, beginning with the most recent concern—Jose Contreras heading to the DL.

Jose Contreras- I wrote earlier this year that I felt Jose Contreras was going to be a “keystone piece” of the rotation, but he certainly won’t be able to reassume that role for the next few weeks. Contreras was placed on the 15 day DL with right elbow tendonitis. After an amazing May, Contreras stumbled through June and July, and now he finds himself out of the rotation until early August. It looks like Nick Masset will start in his place Tuesday because D.J. Carrasco pitched three innings yesterday. Carrasco may take the role after that.

Javier Vazquez- The man can certainly strike batters out, but he hasn’t been very consistent lately. He is 12th in the league in K’s with 117, but unfortunately he hasn’t been able to avoid the “big innings”. His ERA has ballooned to 4.61 and he appears to be struggling with his command. The White Sox will need him down the stretch, so hopefully he can pinpoint what exactly is causing the issue and make the necessary adjustments.

Mark Buehrle- Not too much to worry about here. He has been the most dominant pitcher as of late.

Gavin Floyd- Floyd has been Mr. Consistency this year, however he did just give up six earned earned runs last week. He gets a pass though because it was against the powerful Rangers offense, and he followed it up with a solid start against Kansas City on Saturday. (6 IP, 1 ER, and the win)

John Danks- Danks leads all starters with an ERA of 3.03, but his record should be better than 7-4. He has been the hard luck loser of the staff, although he certainly deserved to lose yesterday after giving up six earned runs in just four innings of work. Ozzie Guillen erupted yesterday after being disgusted by Danks pitching performance: ”We got to be better than that if we’re going to be in the pennant race. ‘We got to pitch better than that.”

With the trade deadline quickly approaching, Sox fans are wondering if Kenny Williams will make a move to bolster the rotation. All reports indicate that a big splash will not be made, but you never know with Kenny at the helm.

This entry was posted on Monday, July 21st, 2008 at 7:39 am and is filed under Kenny Williams, John Danks, Jose Contreras, Javier Vasquez, Mark Buehrle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.