Kopech. Hansen. Dunning. Cease. Giolito. Rodon. Lopez. Fulmer.
That’s a lot of names vying for the five spots in the White Sox starting rotation of the future. And there might be one more big one added to that group Monday night.
The White Sox are picking fourth in the first round of the draft, and while there are some impact bats available like Nick Madrigal, Alec Bohm and Travis Swaggerty, there is a wealth of pitching near the top of the draft board that could entice the South Siders.
Note that just because the White Sox have so much starting-pitching depth in the farm system doesn’t mean they’d shy away from drafting another arm with the No. 4 pick. The current personnel at both the major league and minor league levels won’t have any bearing on how the team is evaluating their potential draft choices.
"Doesn't play into it at all,” White Sox scouting director Nick Hostetler told Chuck Garfien and Ryan McGuffey on a recent White Sox Talk Podcast. “We don't talk about it. It's not an issue for us. It's not anything we've even discussed.
“It really, truly has not come up one time in discussing anything with Rick (Hahn) or Jeremy (Haber) or Kenny (Williams) or (Chris Getz) about who we have in the big leagues, who we have in the minor leagues. It means absolutely nothing when we're drafting in the first round with that first pick because we've got to get it right, we've got to take the best player."
Auburn’s Casey Mize is being discussed as the likely No. 1 pick, so the White Sox perhaps will end up facing him (the Detroit Tigers hold the draft’s first selection) rather than dressing him up in silver and black. But there are plenty of other arms that could be the South Siders’ choice at No. 4.
MLB
Florida’s Brady Singer is perhaps the most attractive of the remaining possibilities, rated as the draft’s No. 2 prospect by MLB.com, behind Mize. Singer is a high-intensity right-hander who has shone for the Gators and could be added to that mix of future White Sox starters.
Singer has gained some internet fame as the guy who freaked the heck out when umpires called a rain delay during one of his outings.
Seriously, you’re not going to believe this.
"He's been that way since high school,” Hostetler said. “I remember when I watched him play in high school, he had a different gear about him. The game started, and it was intense. ... It was somewhat of a rivalry game, and he was dialed in pretty good. He was screaming and yelling. He's a tough-nosed dude. This is not someone I'd want to hit a home run and pimp it off of because you will get drilled. He's got that in him. ... That's one of his deals, he is a true competitor and he gets after it and he loves the big stage.
“This is where the makeup comes into it, the part that you can't gauge. Doesn't have a grading scale, doesn't have a stat to put with it, doesn't have anything like that. There's just a different way this kid goes about his business, and he's a fun one to watch."
But let’s say the White Sox wanted to go with someone a little more … mellow. Who are some of the other pitching options?
There’s high school lefty Matthew Liberatore from Arizona, who’s ranked as the No. 4 prospect by MLB.com. Another high schooler, Carter Stewart, is ranked right behind Liberatore. And a couple college arms, South Florida left-hander Shane McClanahan and Stetson righty Logan Gilbert, might also be of note. Those two are ranked Nos. 14 and 16 by MLB.com.
But regardless of who it could end up being, the point is that an existing wealth of starting-pitching prospects won’t scare the White Sox away from adding another promising young arm. You can never have too much pitching, folks are fond of saying. Even though there are only five spots to go around in that rotation of the future, there is current proof that names will drop out of the running. Carson Fulmer and Lucas Giolito aren’t prevented from winning a spot down the line. But their struggles this season are showing the pains of rebuilds and that prospects don’t always pan out as hoped.
Adding another top-flight starting-pitching prospect would only bolster what could one day be a dominant big league rotation.