LHP Chris Sale Promoted to Chicago White Sox

It only took 10.1 minor league innings for the Chicago White Sox to be convinced that LHP Chris Sale was ready for the major leagues. After being taken with the 13th overall pick in this year's June Draft, Sale was called up from Triple-A by the White Sox yesterday.

Sale ripped through the minor leagues, striking out 19 in those 10.1 innings. He will be used out of the bullpen for Ozzie Guillen’s club.

While I agree with the way the White Sox will use him (I have always believed young pitchers should start in the pen just to get their feet wet), I question how much Sale can actually help the White Sox.

Sure he has K’d 19 in 10.1 innings, but he is also averaging about six walks per nine innings. That is a lot of walks against minor leaguers, and I have to wonder if Sale can be trusted in a close game.

My guess is Guillen will ease Sale into things by putting him into games that aren’t pressure situations. Then again, knowing how Guillen operates, he will have Sale make his major league debut in a bases loaded, no-out situation facing Miguel Cabrera.

Here are some other facts about Chris Sale:

Age

Throws

Left

Bats

Left

College

Florida Gulf Coast

Drafted

13th overall pick in the first round of the 2010 Draft

Minor League Stats

2010 Single A & Triple A: 2.61 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP and 19 K’s in 10.1 IP

Keith Law Ranking and Analysis 

Since Sale was drafted in 2010, here is Law’s pre-draft analysis for the lefty:

“If you like Chris Sale, you see a 6′6″ left-hander with an arm slot close to Randy Johnson’s, a plus fastball and change, and a potential front-line starter. If you’re a skeptic, you see a side-arming lefthander without an average breaking ball and a long arm action that will be tough to repeat 100-plus times an outing. I’m more in the latter camp than the former, and I think Sale’s pro future is reasonably likely to come in the bullpen.

"He’ll sit 92-93 as a starter and has touched 96 a handful of times this spring, with good sink on the pitch that comes from the low slot, helping him generate groundballs. He turns his low-80s changeup over well, surprising given his arm slot, but it’s more of an action change that relies on its downward movement and big-league hitters will lay off it when it’s out of the zone. He’s thrown a loopy curveball and a harder slider, with a better chance to make the slider work from that low slot, but neither is an average pitch and he primarily works with the fastball and change.

"His arm action is ugly, long and complex in the back with a high elbow, and he drifts forward in a crouch more commonly seen on sidearmers and submariners. If I did draft him, I’d see if I could raise his slot just enough to get him better angle on the slider and get him to take advantage of his height. His current delivery, slot, and repertoire make him look a lot like a reliever to me.”

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