The day began with bad news for the White Sox. Aaron Bummer was officially placed on the ten-day IL for bicep strain. Fans had feared the worst after Aaron Bummer took himself out of Friday’s game, but the news may not be all bad.
With a spot opening up on the pitching roster, the White Sox called up the homegrown talent, Zach Burdi. The White Sox drafted the 21-year-old Burdi in the first round of the 2016 draft. Since then, he has appeared in 26 games across all four levels of the White Sox minor league system and has shown impressive progression along the way: A 5 IP 5.40ERA 1.20WHIP 4K 0BB, AA 16IP 3.94ERA 1.00WHIP 24K 9BB, and AAA 16IP 2.25ERA 1.25WHIP 22K 11BB.
Early on, Burdi was known for his nasty pitching ability, including a high 90MPH fastball and a wipeout slider. Unfortunately, Zach Burdi’s 2017 season was cut short by Tommy John surgery and kept him out through his 2018 season. When Burdi came back for the 2019 season, he was not quite ready to pitch; his velocity was down, and a knee injury ended his season prematurely.
Coming into the new season, The White Sox planned to take it slow and see how Burdi did in the minors. But with the cancellation of the Minor League, he had to rely on the progression made during his recovery. The extra time off seemed to have made a difference for Burdi and his killer arm. He made the 60 man roster and sent to the White Sox taxi squad to be called up at any point during the season.
With the bullpen being a highlight for the White Sox this year, it was not looking like there would be a need for Burdi to be called up. However, once the injuries began to pile up, and relief pitchers called upon to make starts more often, it was time to have Burdi make his long-awaited White Sox debut.
Zach Burdi looked sharp in his first appearance for the White Sox. Burdi came in to pitch the 6th inning and left with 1H, 0BB, 0ER, and 2Ks. Cleveland did not know what hit them. Burdi’s fastball was blazing, staying between 97-99, and his wipeout slider was on the money. A new pitch White Sox fans enjoyed was Burdi’s 2-seam fastball/changeup pitch that baffled Cleveland batters and was coming in at 90-92MPH with late sinking action. White Sox fans loved Burdi when they first saw him in 2016, and now, with his arm speed back up and his wicked slider, hopes are high for Burdi in a White Sox jersey.
In the end, the White Sox fell to Cleveland 7-1 on Saturday afternoon. But the game was not without its moments of promise. One of these moments was brought by another of the young White Sox players out of the bullpen, Matt Foster.
Foster has been a revelation from the White Sox pen this season (1W 0ERA .71WHIP 5.2IP 9K 2BB 2H). And Saturday, he got his first start as an opener. Foster looked just as good as a starting pitcher as he does coming out of the bullpen. He was able to keep Cleveland off the board (2IP 0H 0ER 1BB 3K) on Saturday.
The offense was nowhere to be found on Saturday, with a lone run at the bottom of the 8th inning, a home run hit by Yoan Moncada, who, for some reason, was batting leadoff today.
Weird lineups have been a hallmark with manager Rick Renteria pretty much his whole tenure as the White Sox manager. Renteria assured fans and media at Sox Fest that his days of lineup tinkering were over. Besides, with this amount of talent, there was no way he could mess this lineup card up if he wanted too. Well, let me tell you he was wrong.
Moncada, the best overall hitter, in my opinion, should never be batting leadoff. Renteria tried Moncada at leadoff his first season with awful results. And then to have Eloy Jimenez, a power hitter, batting two is yet another baffling move. Eloy is the player who is going to drive in runs for you. To maximize runs, he should be at 3,4, or even five, but should never be batting two. Lastly, the player with the highest batting average, Luis Robert, was taken from leadoff to hitting 6th behind a player making his second start. Renteria cannot help but tinker, and it hardly ever appears to benefit the White Sox. Maybe it is time to say what everyone is thinking; Renteria has taken this four-year rebuild as far as he was able.
The White Sox are still missing Tim Anderson, Edwin Encarnacion, and some other critical pieces of the offense. And the lineup card looks like it was put together by a random generator. But, Zach Plesac still deserves his due (6IP 5H 0ER 1BB 7K 1W) for absolutely owning the White Sox offense this season. After this start, Plesac now has 14 straight innings without giving up a run to the White Sox.
The White Sox do not get it any easier for Sunday night’s game, which will air on ESPN after the Cubs V Cards series was canceled due to the COVID outbreak. It should be a pitcher’s duel with Lucas Giolito going up against Cy Young frontrunner Shane Bieber. Bieber has started off the season 3-0 and leads the league in strikeouts. The offense needs to wake back up and smash the league-leading pitcher. And with the nation watching, its time to put up or shut up White Sox.