White Sox's Revamped Rotation Starting to Shape Up Nicely as Opening Day Nears

You know what they say: When your ace breaks his foot falling off a truck, it's nice to have another one up your sleeve.

OK, nobody says that. But it's a truism nonetheless for the Chicago White Sox, who on Wednesday named Jeff Samardzija their Opening Day starter, in place of the injured Chris Sale.

Samardzija, acquired this winter from the Oakland A's, was the obvious choice. He's coming off the best season of his career, during which he posted a 2.99 ERA with 202 strikeouts in 219.2 innings for the A's and Chicago Cubs.

The 30-year-old right-hander's been roughed up a bit this spring, surrendering nine runs and 15 hits in 11.1 innings entering play Thursday, but that did nothing to dissuade manager Robin Ventura.

"It's always an honor for guys to start on Opening Day and Jeff's done it before," Ventura said, per ESPNChicago's Doug Padilla. "I think even bringing him over here, that was a reason to bring him over here. Chris was going to be the guy and if not him then it was going to be Jeff."

Sale missed his chance at the annual honor when he suffered the aforementioned freaky truck injury. When he's healthy, the three-time All-Star is arguably the best left-hander in the game not named Clayton Kershaw, as his 2014 line—2.17 ERA, 208 SO, 174 IP, 0.966 WHIP—attests.

Ben Margot/Associated Press/Associated Press

The good news for the South Side faithful is that Sale threw another successful bullpen session Wednesday and is hoping to return to the mound by April 12, MLB.com's AJ Cassavell reports. 

That's the first day Chicago will need a fifth starter, so if Sale hits his target it'll be (almost) like he never went down at all.

If he can't take the ball, one possible replacement is Carlos Rodon. Which brings us to more good news.

Rodon, the White Sox's No. 1 prospect according to Baseball America, twirled four shutout innings against the Kansas City Royals Wednesday and racked up nine strikeouts. Overall, the 22-year-old left-hander has punched out 19 in 12.1 Cactus League frames.

Whether Rodon cracks the rotation out of spring or sometime down the road, he'll be a factor sooner than later.

He'll join a unit that includes another strong southpaw, Jose Quintana, who logged a career-high 200.1 innings last year and posted a career-low 3.32 ERA.

The Detroit Tigers won the American League Central in 2014, while the Royals slipped in as a wild card and streaked all the way to Game 7 of the Fall Classic.

Both clubs should to be factors again. But each lost key members of their rotations this winter, with Max Scherzer ditching the Motor City and James Shields skipping KC for free-agent paydays in the nation's capital and San Diego, respectively.

Paul Sancya/Associated Press

The Cleveland Indians, a dark horse contender, may have the division's strongest starting five, but Chicago can make a compelling case. In fact, Bleacher Report's Joel Reuter ranked the White Sox's rotation No. 7 in all of baseball, ahead of both Cleveland and a certain other Windy City squad that's been getting its share of hype. 

Add a revamped offense boosted by the offseason additions of first baseman Adam LaRoche and outfielder Melky Cabrera and the arrival of former New York Yankees closer David Robertson, and you've got a team poised to taste the postseason for the first time since 2008.

"I think we're going to be the most competitive rotation in the league, and I mean that internally," Samardzija said in December, per ESPN.com. "The best starting rotations are made when there's three or four guys that want to be the best and they want to go out there and clinch that three-game series or win that Sunday sweep game."

Wherever the motivation originates, the fact is the White Sox are flush with aces—and they look ready to deal.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference unless otherwise noted.