Welcome to our first edition of the weekly White Sox mailbag! Thanks to all who submitted questions!
Any word on the rehab of Zach Burdi?
— Gg-reg10 (@GregMazurkiewi1) May 9, 2018
Last season, Zach Burdi was maybe a week away from joining the White Sox before he required season-ending Tommy John surgery. Since then, things have been pretty quiet regarding any news of how he’s doing. At least from a social media aspect that is. Fortunately, I happened to be sitting right behind Zach’s mom and aunt while attending this past SoxFest. Before a panel in which he was featured on began, I overheard them talking to each other saying how Zach was 2 months ahead of his rehab schedule. Now that was back in February and the timeline could have changed drastically by then, so take it with a grain of salt. I think the absolute best case scenario would to have him start a throwing program by late July and then have him receive a late September call up, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest and it’s much more realistic to see the White Sox play it safe with him and just wait it out until 2019. If that is the case, then he should play in the Arizona Fall League and would have a good chance of breaking camp with the White Sox out of Spring Training next year.
What's the trajectory for Rutherford ?
— #ILLINOIS 1818 (@philcoforde) May 9, 2018
MLB Pipeline lists Blake’s ETA to The Show as 2020. To me, this sounds like a solid timeline. While he is currently raking for the Dash (.330/.354/.472) I don’t think we will see him in Double-A this year unless there is an abundance of promotions from Birmingham to Charlotte. I think Luis Basabe will be the first outfield prospect on the Dash to be promoted to Double-A to open up a spot for Luis Robert. But there is no reason to rush Blake. He turned 21 a week ago today and still needs to find a more consistent power stroke. That will come as he learns which pitches he can drive and when he gets better at working the count in his favor. The plan is for these White Sox prospects to arrive in 3 waves. With Blake being so young, he falls into that 3rd wave, so for now, 2020 seems like a good bet.
Any thought to sending Giolito down for a minor league stint?
— Hoosier Roguery (@hoosierchicago) May 9, 2018
Personally, I don’t think the White Sox are even going to entertain this idea. Lucas has all the talent in the world, he just needs to learn how to overcome his mental lapses that he seems to get. That can only be done at the major league level. We know he can be really good, as evidenced by his 2.38 ERA in 7 games last season. The biggest obstacle he is facing this year is his walk rate. Last year it was a measly 2.38/9 innings. So far this year? 6.25/9. That is a great way to lose baseball games. In my honest opinion, if the front office sent Giolito down, it could mentally derail him for good. Let’s let him tough this stretch out first with Don Cooper at his side. Remember that he only has 14 career starts on the White Sox. Let’s give him the entire season before people hit the panic button on him.
Thanks for all of your questions! We’ll do it again same time next week.
