The White Sox has some housekeeping to do for the final days of the regular season. Specifically lining up the playoff rotation.
Tony La Russa has said that Lucas Giolito will start either Friday or Saturday’s game with Lance Lynn pitching in the other one. La Russa failed to mention which order they will go in but with Game 1 of the ALDS looming the following Thursday, each would be on four days rest and eligible to start. Whoever starts Friday’s game would seem to have the inside track position.
Each pitcher presents a viable option for Game 1. Lance Lynn has been the best pitcher for the White Sox by far this season. Opponents are only hitting .208 against him and his 2.72 ERA has him in the Cy Young conversation.
Lance Lynn also has the edge in playoff experience. He won the World Series with the Cardinals as a rookie in 2006 but his overall results in the playoffs have not been great. His ERA in the Divisional Series is 7.41 throughout eight games. His last playoff start game was in 2014 when he took the ball against the San Fransico Giants during the NLCS. Lynn went 5.2 innings and allowed two runs.
In Lucas Gioliot’s lone playoff start he dominated. Upon taking the ball in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series, Giolito fired seven innings of one-run ball. He retired the first 18 batters he faced and only allowed two hits and one walk to go with eight strikeouts. He became just the fifth pitcher in MLB history to be perfect through 6.0 innings of his postseason start.
Heading into the season the White Sox made it clear Giolito was their number one starter. He got the Opening Day honors last year against Minnesota and was once again named the Opening Day starter this season in Anaheim.
Giolito is quietly having a good season with the White Sox. He has a respectable 3.53 ERA. He also leads the team in innings pitched with 173.2.
You can pencil Giolito and Lynn in for Games 1 and 2 the exact order is yet to be seen. Whoever the White Sox go with in Game 1 they will be in good hands. Dylan Cease looks to be the team’s Game 3 starter. After being drilled in the elbow with a batted ball, he looks to be okay.
“Dylan is feeling better, still has the bruise,” La Russa said. “One thing we worked out, which I’m really pleased, he’s going to take the ball last game of the season on Sunday, which really gives him the chance to get the bruise totally gone and still give him the chance to throw the ball a couple of times to get ready for it.”
Cease leads the team in strikeouts and he has shown his stuff can play in this league. Especially during the postseason when strikeouts are a hot commodity. That is where things get complicated.
Carlos Rodon looks to be the next logical choice given the career year he is having. Rodon threw a no-hitter in April and has 2.47 ERA and 181 strikeouts in 127 innings pitched this year. But Rodon has been dealing with shoulder soreness so the White Sox don’t know if Rodon will be able to participate in the postseason. Even if he does pitch the White Sox don’t know what capacity it will be in. He could be limited to three innings each start.
Rodon is scheduled to pitch on Wednesday against Cincinnati. That start will likely determine what Rodon can give them in the post-season.
“it’s just a matter of him showing that he can be healthy enough to compete,” Tony La Russa said. “We know what he can do when he’s healthy. The stamina part is nice, but it’s not all that. Because if somebody tells me right now, tells our team, ‘Carlos can give you four shutout innings,’ you take them. Five, take it. Three. Three is a third of the game.”
With Rodon’s status, unknown Dallas Keuchel and Reynaldo Lopez could play a valuable role in the post-season. Keuchel has not pitched well enough to earn a job in the playoff rotation but he could help bridge the gap between Rodon and the bullpen as a long reliever. Especially if Rodon can only go three innings. The same goes for Lopez who has served the White Sox in each role this season.
