The Chicago White Sox left Trevor Richards off their Wild Card roster but kept Anthony Kay, offering a glimpse at how they plan to manage their pitching staff against the Astros.
The Chicago White Sox have officially set their Wild Card roster for this week’s series against the Houston Astros.
Roster sizes go back down from 28 in September to 26 for the playoffs, leading to a few notable omissions for every team. Rosters reset after each postseason series, so just because a player isn’t included for the Wild Card Series doesn’t mean he’ll be unavailable should the White Sox reach the ALDS.
For now, we have the initial group of 26: 12 pitchers and 14 position players. The roster tells us quite a bit about Chicago’s pitching plans in Houston.
On the offensive side, Jake Rogers returns from the paternity list and joins Kyle Teel as the team’s two catchers. Neither Drew Romo nor Edgar Quero made the cut.
Veteran outfielder Tommy Pham was a September addition for the White Sox and now finds himself on the roster to begin the postseason. Chicago chose to make cuts to its pitching staff rather than leave off an experienced veteran bat.
The notable pitchers missing from the initial Wild Card roster are right-handers Tyler Davis and Trevor Richards. Davis’ omission might have been expected, but Richards is a bit of a surprise considering how frequently the White Sox used him during the regular season.
Ultimately, it likely comes down to leverage and whom the White Sox trust in a big spot with the game on the line.
Richards’ availability is also unclear. He ate some innings for the White Sox against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday, throwing 46 pitches over 3.1 innings. That’s a much larger workload than he’s used to.
If Richards wasn’t going to be available again until Thursday, perhaps the White Sox thought it was better to use the roster spot on somebody else. I think that decision also speaks volumes about what they plan to do with their pitching staff.
Anthony Kay, who started for Chicago on Sunday and threw 74 pitches against the Rockies, did make the Wild Card roster. He should be available at some point in this series.
The White Sox are going with a bullpen game in Game 1, with Hagen Smith getting the ball to start and an all-hands-on-deck effort following him. I expect Sean Burke to be the starter or bulk-innings pitcher in Game 2. But there’s a clear focus on having pitchers who can cover multiple innings.
Given that Kay is on the roster despite not lining up for a start between now and Thursday, it’s very likely the White Sox plan to use him out of the bullpen if there’s a matchup they like. That gives Will Venable another multi-inning relief option he can turn to.
It’s going to be unconventional. The White Sox don’t have the reliable starting pitching depth to simply line up starters who can go five or six innings each. Some of their best pitching performances all year have come from bullpen efforts, with Chicago using its best arms a few innings at a time.
Is that a recipe for winning games and advancing in the postseason? We’re about to find out. The Wild Card roster tells us a lot about what the White Sox are planning to do in the playoffs.
