Right-hander Jonathan Cannon had a dour attitude when he was told he was getting sent to the minors after three starts for the White Sox earlier this season.
“It stinks in the moment,” he said. “You come up here to get experience, and then you get sent down.”
He let the disappointment dissipate. Then he got to work for Triple-A Charlotte, eventually working his way back earlier this month.
For the Sox, this disappointing season has become a chance to see what they have in their young players, what they need to work on and how they can help prospects improve. And they’re not afraid to send a guy down for more seasoning if he’s not performing. Right-hander Nick Nastrini also returned to the minors this year after stints at the major-league level.
Manager Pedro Grifol said it’s good for a developing player to get big-league exposure and learn what he can or can’t get away with. Cannon worked on a cutter and changeup to better get left-handed hitters out.
“[Sox pitching coach Ethan] Katz has been great,” Cannon said. “We sat down before I went back down and lined out what I needed to work on. Then, with [Triple-A Charlotte pitching coach R.C. Lichtenstein] down in Charlotte — they’ve all been very influential this year.”
Since being recalled from Charlotte, Cannon is 1-1 with a 3.24 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP.
Inadequate player development hurt the Sox during their last rebuild. They failed to get the most out of players and couldn’t quickly replenish their farm system.
New general manager Chris Getz is showing he’s not afraid to make moves that might not yield results until years later. In March, he traded ace Dylan Cease for a prospect haul — starter Drew Thorpe, who allowed two runs in six innings against the Rockies on Friday night; outfielder Samuel Zavala; pitcher Jairo Iriarte and pitcher Steven Wilson. Acquiring young assets is the most important first step. Turning them into major-leaguers is the difficult part.
Yet, one bright spot for the Sox this season has been their starting pitching, which has a collective 3.79 ERA in June, sixth-best in the majors entering Friday.
Cannon, 23, said it has been helpful to pick the brains of other starters such as Garrett Crochet and Erick Fedde.
“On the bench between games, we pitch, and then we sit and watch four games,” Cannon said. “We get a lot of down time to talk. Guys like [starter Chris Flexen] have faced some of these lineups multiple times, so it’s like, ‘Hey, last time you faced him, what worked? What didn’t?’
“Being able to talk to them about what their approach would be is very helpful, rather than going out there blind.”
Despite the worst record in baseball, the Sox do have plenty of veterans to help keep a focus on developing the next generation.
“Being consistent at this level is a difficult thing to do,” reliever Michael Kopech said. “Having a young pitching core like this, they can really develop some consistency as far as the environment here. The game is going to be the game, so it’ll take care of itself, but I think they have a chance to do something special.”