Chicago White Sox: Will Ozzie Guillen Form a New Six-Pack with Zach Stewart?

The Chicago White Sox looked to face the remainder of the 2011 season in a traditional five-man rotation after using six starters much of the year. The trade of Edwin Jackson seemed to indicate that whatever the team does down the stretch, it would be with five starters.

Not so fast; the White Sox six-pack could be back in business.

Zach Stewart's impressive Chicago debut Saturday, coupled with an outstanding outing by Jake Peavy Sunday, may be deciding factors in Guillen staying with a half-dozen starting arms. For the White Sox, it may be their only hope of getting back in to the AL Central picture.

Stewart, who came over to Chicago in the deal with Toronto, threw into the seventh inning and picked up the decision in the 6-1 victory Saturday. With Brian Bruney designated for assignment, there could be a spot in the bullpen for the 24-year-old Stewart for the rest of the year.

Thanks to Peavy, though, Stewart may wind up with a bigger role: one in the rotation.

Peavy is a game-to-game commodity this season; there is a question mark every time he takes the mound. He may toss a gem like Sunday's three-hit, six-strikeout performance over eight innings, but he could also come up with another nagging injury. The more rest he gets between starts, the better.

The rest of the rotation has seemed to adjust favorably to the extra day off, so why not go back to six starters?

Chicago lost six in a row in a five-man rotation. Stewart's addition came in the middle of a rare sweep of the Twins in Minnesota—not since July of 2004 has that taken place.

Hey, go with what works. Stewart, at the very least, deserves another start.