This year, the Chicago White Sox are poised to turn around several seasons of struggle and under 500 records. There just may be one little problem in the way of this goal. John Danks, the fifth pitcher in the White Sox pitcher rotation. Many fans are ready for the White Sox to finally hit success with the new atmosphere in the clubhouse and the consistency in the field with the new lineup. Yet the snag in the pitching lineup could potentially cost the White Sox their best season in almost 8 years.
One of the White Sox main problems in the past few years has been having a strong enough pitching rotation behind their pitching ace, Chris Sale. With this upcoming season, the White Sox are looking pretty good in this catagory as Sale's pitchers behind him, Jose Quintana, Carlos Rodon, Nate Jones, and Mat Latos. All five of these pitchers have proven that they can pitch a pretty consistent game and get the Sox those wins. And then there is John Danks. Danks has been a member of the White Sox for 10 seasons now including the current 2016 one. His first season as a rookie with the club did not go as well as either him or the team had hoped. By the end of the 2007 season, Danks had won six games, lost 13, and had an ERA of 5.50, which is quite a bit above a "good" ERA. But the next year was when Danks really shined. In the 2008 season, Danks pitched 21 games, winning 12 of them, and had an ERA of 3.32, the lowest ERA number of his career. He was also a main reason the White Sox were able to win the AL Central pennant that year. As his pitching performance against the Minnesota Twins propelled the White Sox into the post season and won the pennant. Yet ever since that fateful year in 2008, John Danks really has not been able to deliver for the White Sox. Oh of course he did have a couple of good seasons after that 2008 year. For both 2009 and 2010 he had an ERA below a four, and won over half of the games he pitched. But that was about where John Danks, successful pitching career ends. Ever since 2010 he has pitched more losses than wins and his lowest ERA number is a 4.33, which isn't bad, but not good enough for what the White Sox need.
This became apparent again with his most recent start for the White Sox this season. Having began the season on a four-game road trip to California, the White Sox used most of their main pitchers during that stretch. So when it came to the season opener on Friday April 8th, John Danks was the only pitcher left who hadn't had a start. And the White Sox needed a fresh pitcher for this game as all the players in the hitting lineup had been playing four games the last four days without a break as they moved into this one. So having a new pitcher was vital and John Danks was there to cover that role.
The game wasn't going to be a great one from the start as it was snowing as the White Sox and the Cleveland Indians took the field for their first game of a 3 game series. Yet within the first inning, Danks gave up two hits and one walk which added up to three runs in that first inning alone. It was not looking like a good start for either Danks or the White Sox. And it did not get any better from there. In the second innning, the Indians were able to score two runs off of two more hits, bringing their total lead to 5-0 with seven innings of baseball left to play. Not a great start for Danks who ended up only pitching 5 innings, giving up eight hits and all 7 runs that the Indians were able to score that game.
Once again, White Sox fans were frustrated with the level of play Danks brought to the pitching mound. Instead of seeing something high octane and exciting like the rest of the dugout has been during spring training and the beginning of the season, Danks brought slow paced, easy to hit pitching. This has been consistent for five seasons now, and the new White Sox team deserves better.
Sure Danks was once a great pitcher that could consistently strike out batters and hold no hitters into the 5th inning. But it hasn't been that way in years. And now that the White Sox have a few pitchers who are consistently doing well like Sale, Quintana, and Jones, Danks just does not fit anymore. Also not to mention he is now the highest paid player on the team, raking in $14.25 million since Adam LaRoche retired during spring training.
Why are the White Sox spending so much on a guy who can't even maintain a decent strikeout consistency? Anymore it no longer makes sense. Especially as the White Sox have some good young pitchers in the pipeline. Guys like Miguel Gonzalez, Erik Johnson, and even Carson Fulmer, who may all be in the minors but performed well during the spring training Cactus League games. It's time for the White Sox to let John Danks go. He may end up hindering the season enough where the White Sox won't be able to get into the playoffs like they hope.
コメント