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The White Sox were not expected to be contenders in 2019 and so far, that has been the case. While the team is not dwelling in the AL Central cellar (that honor currently belongs to to the Kansas City Royals), the White Sox currently sport an 18-21 record and a -25 run differential through the first quarter of the season.
Unfortunately, for a team that already has a lot of obstacles to overcome to head back towards contention, they got some bad news today.
Carlos Rodón will undergo Tommy John surgery later this week. The timing of his return will be subject to his scheduled surgery date, but Rick Hahn expects him to be ready by the second half of the 2020 season.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 13, 2019
While Carlos Rodon has a track record of being a guy that is long on talent but short on meaningful production on the mound, this season looked pretty promising for the talented lefty. He had been sporting a career-high strikeout rate of 11.9 K/9 and while his ERA did sit north of 5, his 3.52 FIP not only suggested that he was pitching better than the results indicated, but it was also the lowest of his career.
As of now, it looks like the earliest we could see Rodon back on the field would be mid-2020 although that will depend entirely on how his recovery goes and whether the White Sox will feel the need to push his return depending on the needs of the team at the time. In seven starts in 2019, Rodon has posted a 5.19 ERA and 3.52 FIP with 17 walks and 46 strikeouts in 34 2⁄3 innings.