CHICAGO – The White Sox starting rotation hasn’t gone according to plan this season.
With the calendar turning to June, they’ve already lost two starting pitchers to injury. They’ve been without veteran lefty Martín Pérez since April 19, as he’s on the 60-day injured list with a left flexor tendon strain.
Second-year right-hander Jonathan Cannon was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with a lower back strain. There’s no timeline for Cannon’s return yet as he’s continues to be evaluated, and Pérez can’t return until late June at the absolute earliest.
That’s forced first-year manager Will Venable to adapt. They’ve tried using openers, which has worked at times and failed at others. Bryse Wilson has made five starts, though he has a 6.80 ERA and moved back to the bullpen. Signing Adrian Houser from Triple-A has been a major positive, as he’s allowed just three earned runs in 18.1 innings.
Shane Smith, Davis Martin and Sean Burke have been mainstays in rotation all season. But due to injuries and ineffectiveness, situations like Wednesday’s game against the Tigers have arisen where the White Sox opt for a bullpen day.
Left-hander Jared Shuster served as the opener and gave up four earned runs in one inning during the 5-4 loss. Then Venable turned to Mike Vasil, a rookie right-hander who’s been one of the team’s best pitchers this season.
Vasil tossed 3.2 shutout innings, which marked the longest outing of his major league career, as did a career-high 58 pitches and a career-high 34 strikes. He allowed just two hits while striking out three batters and walking none.
“I actually didn’t get ahead that well, but I think just executing pitches when it mattered most,” Vasil said postgame. “Mixing up the four-seam with the sinker, using the sweeper effectively, mixing speeds, having a pitching up and in sometimes to kind of vary looks and everything. It’s a really good team we are facing and obviously they can score some runs so being able to change speeds and execute pitches.”
That extended Vasil’s scoreless appearance streak to three games and 9.2 innings, the longest active streak by a White Sox pitcher. He found out Tuesday night he’d be expected to pitch in a bulk role against the Tigers, and felt he could provide five innings, if needed.
His goal when joining the White Sox before the season was to do whatever the team asks, and Wednesday’s outing was a prime example. Vasil lowered his ERA to 1.89, which ranks 10th in MLB among pitchers with at least 30 innings.
That’s put him in the mix for more bulk appearances moving forward, or perhaps even a starting role.
“I think that’s what’s really valuable about Vasil,” Venable said. “Is he can do a bunch of different things and pitch in different roles for us. So absolutely as we find solutions down the road here for innings, he’ll certainly be in consideration.”
Though Vasil has only appeared out of the White Sox bullpen this season, starting would not be new for him. He made 32 starts across three collegiate seasons at Virginia, then started 73 games in the Mets minor league system from 2022-24.
The White Sox acquired him in December’s Rule 5 Draft, making Vasil a unique success story in his rookie season.
“I think it’s probably going a little better than I figured, especially at the best level of baseball,” Vasil said. “But the whole goal of the entire offseason was just pitch well, no matter where I was. That was really my only main goal and feel like I’m doing that right now.”
