The White Sox have got to be looking at the Nats' rotation right now going 'here's what we COULD be'. Cause if their rotation can be hindered by Martin Perez going down with an injury, they need to be taking notes.
Right now, the Washington Nationals, in their moment of patheticness as they wait for James Wood and Dylan Crews to run the team, have arguably one of the strongest rotations in baseball, and the majority of it is made up of young, strong hurlers. Many of them are homegrown, like both Mitchell Parker and Cole Irvin. Parker is picking up almost immediately where his 2024 left off, with a 3-1 record, a 1.37 ERA and a league-leading 1.7 WAR. He's had five terrific starts so far, and he's stepped up in a way no one was anticipating. Irvin is 2-0 with a 3.68 ERA and 27 Ks. Of the young Nats starters, he's the oldest at 28, and he's running the risk of getting past his peak before this team can really take off.
And then there's...y'know...the guy they got from the Padres who strikes out everybody. Yeah, him. MacKenzie Gore K'd 8 more tonight, bringing his season total through 6 starts to 53. That is an extremely good thing, and it's even better that he's been, for the most part, on target, with a 3.34 ERA. Gore may be the flashier, bigger exclamation point pitcher, but Parker might be the better guy.
Now, the worrying part is the fact that after these three and Trevor Williams, there is a gaping hole at the back of the rotation. Anyone who would be a good idea to fill it, like Josiah Gray, D.J. Herz and Cade Cavalli, is hurt. They've been forced to use rookie Brad Lord as a fifth starter, which hasn't gone well. I'd honestly love to see them give Shinnosuke Ogasawara a shot, but he's been middle of the road in the minors. The one issue with having a rotation of young guys is you run the risk of burning them out, and hopefully the three starring guys in Washington stay this sturdy.
The White Sox, meanwhile, are just hoping to get into some consistent stretches with their young pitchers. The issue of not burning out the young arms is already a factor, as you can already see SEVERAL on the IL after just a small bit of service time. Jesse Scholtens, Ky Bush, Drew Thorpe and Prelander Berroa are all on the 60-Day IL after partial seasons of White Sox support over the last few years. Thorpe, of all of those, seemed like The Guy through his rookie starts last year, but because every minor leaguer throws hard now, he needed a year of downtime. Martin Perez has joined them on the 60-Day, after a wonderful start.
And while there are good young stars left, many of them aren't good enough to outrun the ineptitude of the team. Sean Burke's the only one doing truly terribly, he's got a 6.23 ERA [your opening day starter, everybody!]. Many, like Davis Martin and Jonathan Cannon, are pitching well enough but just have been unlucky. Cannon's 0-3 with a 4.81 ERA. The highlight, undoubtedly, has been Shane Smith, called up in time to make the Opening Day rotation, and holding down a 2.30 ERA and 20 Ks through 5 starts. Plus, today he finally got his first career win, one the bullpen couldn't blow considering that the game was called after 7 innings. I think it's better that a lot of these guys are good pitchers with a lot of promise, and I prefer that to last year, where you had only 2 truly great starters and a lot of people desperate to fill innings. We're not at the 'break glass for Chris Flexen' part of the season yet. There is that open fifth spot, and while I think it would be wise to call up former Red Sox starter prospect Wikelman Gonzalez, chances are they might throw in Bryse Wilson or somebody like that, for efficiency's sake.
I think the White Sox are a couple years away from being where the Nats are, coasting on reliable starters and building something quietly. They're still pretty terrible, but the presence of Smith, and arguably Martin and Cannon, proves that they may not always be.
Coming Tomorrow- His team is within inches from competing, and he might be the force that gets them there.
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