White Sox have no plan to rush top pitching prospects, says GM

CHICAGO — No matter how bad it gets on the mound for the Chicago White Sox, they have no intention of rushing their top pitching prospects to the major leagues, general manager Chris Getz said before Friday’s home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The White Sox completed their first road trip of the season after giving up 52 runs in six games including 47 earned runs. That translates to the highest ERA (8.63) in MLB — by a wide margin. The Diamondbacks are second worst with a 5.25 ERA. “There’s certainly been some frustrating moments here early on,” Getz said. “I’d say primarily with some of the starters and not being able to go deeper into games.”

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Getz pointed to opening day starter Shane Smith’s struggles with his fastball as the main culprit. He’s had two turns through the rotation, while giving up 10 earned runs in just 4.2 innings. The rest of the staff hasn’t been much better, leading to some early season questions about replacements.

The White Sox have several promising first round picks at Triple-A Charlotte who could contribute to the big league team soon, including lefties Hagen Smith and Noah Schultz. Fifth round pick Tanner McDougal also has looked good, but Getz won’t rush any of them up.

“When we feel like they’re ready, they’ll be up here,” Getz said. “We don’t feel like they’re ready quite yet. We don’t feel like it’s the right time. Candidly, regardless of how things are going up here, if they are not ready, they’re not coming up here.”

Two of the three – McDougal and Smith – are pitching at Triple-A for the first time while Schultz had a 9.37 ERA in five starts there last season. All have looked good in their initial outings this year but there’s still work to be done, according to Getz.

“To have three significant arms like that at the Triple-A level is very comforting as we’re navigating, looking into the future of this season, but certainly don’t feel like it’s the right time to bring those guys up,” he said. “We want to make sure that those guys are throwing multiple pitches, being able to navigate both sided hitters and turn lineups over.

“If they’re down there and they are performing well and there’s confidence not only in the player, but the staff and front office and we feel like they’re in a really good place – they’ll come up here because we know long term that it’s going to be best for their careers.”

One bright spot for the White Sox has been rookie first baseman Munetaka Murakami. He had home runs in his first three big league games and has two walks to go along with five strikeouts in six games overall.

“I was really impressed with that (his opening day AB’s) and he’s continued to have quality at-bats throughout,” Getz said. “So I’ll take it as a pleasant surprise, but that just speaks to the player and person that he is and what he’s capable of doing at this level.”