When the Chicago White Sox drafted lefty pitcher Chris Sale in 2010, they said that he'd be developed as a starter. After spending 2011 pitching out of the team's bullpen, they're following through on that plan, as White Sox GM Kenny Williams told reporters today that Sale will in fact be moving to the rotation come spring.
Sale, 23 in March, was Chicago's first-round pick in 2010 out of Florida Gulf Coast University. After signing in August of that year, he proved to be ready for the majors while finishing out the year pitching for the White Sox bullpen. He spent all of 2011 in the bullpen as well, and has been extremely effective in that role. Over 94 innings as a reliever, he's posted a 2.58 ERA and metrics like SIERA and xFIP are similarly bullish.
But the tall lefty has three legitimate pitches and the kind of power stuff that makes talent evaluators salivate, especially if it's coming from a starter. He still needs to show that he can take the ball 30+ times and handle the workload, but the White Sox presumably expect to see Sale near the top of their rotation pretty soon.
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