The White Sox are on a historic pace, but not the good kind. As of right now, they are on pace for 20 something wins, which would obviously be one of the worst seasons of all time. The team is basically unwatchable at this point, but in the minor leagues, it is quite the opposite.
The Birmingham Barons have one of the best minor league teams in the country, and their rotation is arguably the best in all of the minor leagues, not just AA. This is mainly due to the Dylan Cease trade, which added two amazing arms into the rotation.
The headliner of the deal, Drew Thorpe has been everything the White Sox could have hoped for and more. He is off to an unreal start to the season and should be in Chicago in just a few months.
To this point, Drew Thorpe has started four games and he has looked like a future ace. He is 4-0 with a minuscule .75 ERA in 24 innings. He has struck out 21 batters compared to just five walks. He is also holding batters to a .193 average, which signals they aren’t hitting him well at all.
While Thorpe is not going to overwhelm you with velocity, he knows how to pitch and that bodes well for his transition to the Major Leagues. It might be after the trade deadline, but expect to see Thorpe in a Chicago White Sox uniform for at least a few starts this year.
The next main piece of the Cease trade was Jairo Iriarte who has been just as, if not more dominant than Thorpe. Through his first three starts, Iriarte did not give up a single run, only allowing one single run in his last start.
Overall on the season, Iriarte has a .51 ERA in 17.2 innings. He has struck out 21 batters and has a very good 1.13 WHIP. He has walked 11 batters, so that is a slight concern, but he has been able to work around it very well to this point.
Iriarte is more of a power pitcher than Thorpe, but suffers from some control issues due to that. Regardless, many high level pitching prospects have dealt with walk issues(Dylan Cease) and have been able to work around and limit it at the next level. He, like Thorpe, should be in Chicago at some point this season and should be penciled in the 2025 rotation.
The most underrated prospect in the haul was Sammy Zavala, and he might have the most upside. He is just 19 and could be making his way to AA at some point this year.
So far, he is hitting just .217 with one homerun and eight RBIs, but he has shown flashes of excellence early into the season.
With him being just 19 years old, he is playing against guys much older, so it can take a little bit of time to fully adjust to the level where he’s at. He should really catch fire as the season goes on and could even make his way to Chicago at some point next year if he plays well.
Steven Wilson has also been a solid piece out of the bullpen for the White Sox, minus a tough stretch in Minnesota. He could be a solid trade candidate that could get the White Sox a solid player in return.
Regardless of how Cease pitches for the Padres, this trade has worked out very well for the White Sox, as they now might have two top of the rotation arms and a top outfielder prospect. These three players will be very fun to monitor as the season goes on and it is nice to have something to look forward to with the White Sox.
