Carlos Rodon working his way back to the White Sox with first rehab start coming Saturday

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The White Sox starting rotation is coming increasingly closer to getting a big-time reinforcement.

Carlos Rodon will make his first rehab start Saturday with Class A Kannapolis, general manager Rick Hahn announced Thursday afternoon. Rodon has been recovering from shoulder surgery since last September, slowly working his way back to the major league mound.

“He’s been throwing in extended spring training, made a number of starts there, each of which have gone well. And he is currently without restriction other than building up his endurance and pitch count,” Hahn said. “So this Saturday night at Kannapolis will be the first of multiple rehab starts.”

Rodon was transferred to the 60-day disabled list earlier this season and will be eligible to return at the end of the month. That falls almost perfectly in line with the estimated return date, which Hahn has been saying since last fall could be around June 1.

Rodon’s return is a big deal for a guy who though acquired prior to the organization’s rebuilding effort still carries hopes of being one of the guys at the front of what is shaping up to be a potentially exciting rotation of the future. Rodon was the No. 3 pick in the 2014 draft and despite difficulties staying healthy, he’s shown flashes of brilliance and figures to have as much of a chance as anyone — Michael Kopech, Alec Hansen, Lucas Giolito, etc. — of being an ace of the staff the next time the White Sox are ready to contend.

He’ll also be a welcome sight for a pitching staff that has struggled through the first month and a half of the season. White Sox starters entered Thursday with the highest ERA in the bigs, at 5.94, and the most walks, with 113. Two guys battling for their own spots in that future rotation, Giolito and Carson Fulmer, have caused significant consternation with 6.91 and 6.23 ERAs, respectively (plus Giolito leads the American League with 32 walks).

So this is an important step for Rodon, who’s been better suited to handle this recovery after missing the first two-plus months of last season with an arm injury, too.

“It’s been easier on Carlos, one, because he’s been through it before but, two, because he feels so much better,” Hahn said. “As I’v referenced before, there’s a certain point when you’re dealing with an injured player where they seemingly get over the hump psychologically and realize that they’re no longer hurt, they’re just building up baseball endurance again.

“And Carlos at spring training you could see was different than he was a year ago, that he was feeling good, he was without restriction and he knew it was more just building back up. Obviously it doesn’t mean you’re out of the woods until the guy’s back at the big league level, but certainly he feels real good about where he’s at and how this has progressed.

“Hopefully he’s a healthy pitcher and is back on track to the career he was in the progress of having before the setbacks. In terms of repertoire, velocity, pitch mix, we expect him to be the same guy you saw up here before when he was having success.”

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