Chicago White Sox: Jake Peavy Is Trying To Be Ready for Opening Day

According to Mark D. Gonzalez of the Chicago Tribune, Chicago White Sox RHP Jake Peavy threw 40 pitches off a mound on Tuesday near his home in San Diego, CA. Peavy told Gonzalez that he was operating around 60-70 percent effort during the workout.

Peavy is trying to recover from a detached latissimus dorsi muscle, which limited him to only 17 starts in 2010. In those 17 starts, Peavy compiled a 4.63 ERA and 93 Ks in 107 innings.

His goal is to be ready by Opening Day, and while pitching coach Don Cooper recently said Peavy is progressing nicely from his July surgery, I personally think he is going to be hard-pressed to be ready by Opening Day. I am just having a hard time seeing a scenario where the White Sox rush him into things.

Peavy hasn’t started 30-plus games in a season since 2007, so why rush a fragile pitcher back? It doesn’t make sense to me.

I think the White Sox will play it smart and safe with Peavy. They will ease him through spring training, keep him in Arizona while the team heads north and then have him make his debut in late-April/early-May.

If you want a fantasy spin on this, I would stay away from Peavy in 2011. A near 30-year-old pitcher who can’t stay healthy, coming off of a shoulder surgery and pitches in a hitter’s paradise is someone you want to stay away from.

If anything, he might make 15-20 starts, win 8-10 games and have an ERA around 4.30. That’s not someone you want making consistent starts on your fantasy team.

We’ll keep tabs on Peavy as spring training progresses.

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