White Sox Staff Ready For Challenge of Postseason

The White Sox starters bring a mix of veterans and young arms. Mark Buerhle anchors the quartet with the most postseason experience by far. Buerhle was a huge piece of the White Sox success in their 2005 run to the World Series Title. He relies heavily on working the inside and outside of the plate with an cut fastball and an above average change-up. Buerhle led the White Sox in innings pitched and had a impressive 15 wins with a 3.79 ERA in 2008. He enters the postseason with a overall 3.42 ERA over 23 and 2/3 innings pitched.

Javier Vazquez, the projected game 1 starter for the Sox, is the other experienced veteran on the Sox starting staff. He is widely known for his maddeningly inconsistent performance and holds a horrible post-season ERA. He will have much to prove in the playoffs but had a decent regular season, leading the White Sox in strikes outs with an even 200. He is a pure strikeout pitcher with superb movement and velocity.

Now to the young guns. The youngest player on the Sox but perhaps the most talented is 23 year old John Danks. Danks is coming off his best pitching performance of his young career in the tiebreaker game versus the Minnesota Twins. Danks is in his 2nd year and has improved across the board from his rookie campaign. This improvement is undoubtedly due to his work with pitching coach Don Cooper and modeling his pitching style after Mark Buerhle. John Danks led the White Sox in ERA with a sparkling 3.32 to go along with 12 wins.

Out of all of the White Sox starting pitchers this year, Gavin Floyd had arguable the best year. A highly prized prospect in the Phillies farm system, Floyd was viewed as a bust and was traded to Chicago. After one year of splitting time between Triple-A and showing flashes of brilliance in the big leagues, he has emerged as a top of the line starter. He led the Sox with 17 wins and very good 3.84 ERA. He has a good fastball but his best pitch by far is his devastating curveball.

The White Sox starting staff has a good mix of crafty veterans and exuberant young talent. Expect some big performances from this unit as the Sox try to return to October glory.