The Chicago White Sox have activated Gio Gonzalez, per MLB.com’s Scott Merkin (via Twitter). Zack Burdi has been optioned to the team’s alternate site to make room on the roster.
Gonzalez has pitched both out of the bullpen and from the rotation this season. Given the injury concerns for the soon-to-be 35-year-old, Chicago could reason that the bullpen would be the prudent and more effective usage play for Gonzalez. Instead, they’re likely to put him back into their starting five for now alongside Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, Dylan Cease, and Dane Dunning. Keuchel has been struggling with a balky back, so getting Gonzalez tuned up and back to his usual innings-eating self could be a benefit for the Pale Hose come playoff time.
The veteran southpaw has the battle scars to mark his playoff resume. He’s made 8 starts in his postseason career for the Nationals and Brewers with his team’s going an even 4-4 in those games. Batters have hit just .215/.346/.393 over those 29 1/3 innings, while Gonzalez has racked up 27 strikeouts and a 4.91 ERA. In sum, Gonzalez has suppressed batter contact and power throughout his playoff tenure, but also struggled at times with command leading to short starts and an average start length of less than 4 innings. Still, when the playoffs roll around, 4 solid innings from a time-tested veteran might be preferable to relying on the youth of Cease and/or Dunning. Now that the White Sox have all guaranteed a playoff berth, we have only time in the way of learning the White Sox’ postseason strategy.
The 25-year-old Burdi made 8 appearances this season, and while 13.5 K/9 to 3.7 BB/9 are sound peripheral numbers, Burdi was saddled with an 11.05 ERA across 7 1/3 innings. An 8.57 FIP only paints a marginally better picture for the hard-throwing right-hander. Things started out well-enough when Burdi allowed just 1 earned run over his first four outings, but 8 earned runs over his final 3 1/3 marred the earlier performance and likely played a role in his demotion. The Illinois-native suffered a particularly brutal 1/3 of an inning at the hands of the Royals, surrendering a solo shot, an RBI single, and then another long ball to Maikel Franco that plated three and ended Burdi’s evening. Despite the rough outings, Burdi boasts an electric 98 mph fastball and will find his way back to the majors.
Give him the ball. Just can’t wait to see him on the bump.
Stop being mean, what did Gio ever do to you.
@Dogbone
You sure about that? He did beat your Cubs after all, the last game he appeared in.
Here’s a question: Why don’t you ever comment on any Cubs articles anymore? I guess it’s hard to troll your team. Plus, you can’t add anything constructive to the conversation, because you don’t know your own team.
With that man-crush you have on the Sox players, I can see why you can’t resist commenting on Sox threads.
Him and chisoxfan/chitown311 must be great friends. Neither of them comment on their own teams
@chicagofan1978
I know. It gets so old. I would love to see the day where we can come on here and just talk baseball, without people of any fan base trying to agitate another team’s fan base.
I’m about ready to take break from this site. I don’t see it improving anytime soon. The moderators don’t seem to care (or they want the trolling to bring more hits to the site). These trolls/agitators ruin the experience.
I feel like a jerk for responding to the agitators the way I do, and it seems like I’m doing just that every time I come on here. A break from here might be perfect for me. I’ll see.
Agreed, I took a break for awhile when baseball was on hiatus. It’s depressing how everyone just bashes each other’s teams. The Sox are fun for the first time in years and cubs and Sox fans on here are just being ridiculous.
Guess giving up five runs in 0.1 IP against the Royals doesn’t exactly get you much of a chance to come back… they benched Burdi after that (8/29) and didn’t so much as give him a sniff of action.
I like the usage for Gio they were doing before… pitch a few innings after another semi-starter. Get one pass through the lineup from him. Maybe he doesn’t pitch 7IP anymore, but he can still give us a good day when combined with the rest of the pen.
Burdi last pitched in AAA in 2017 with a 4.05 ERA and 1.4 WHIP…. Years ago, Carson Fulmer was also rushed up without ever having actually earned a promotion… tools and draft pedigree don’t equal success…. this guy needs to develop
Good job Gio. he always will be one of my favorite baseball personalities.
He seems to always keep his teams in the game, for a couple of time through the lineup. That certainly has value as opposed to starters such as Jon Lester that throw BP every other start, at MUCH higher salaries to boot.
Gio only had a groin injury.
Not arm, elbow, or shoulder!
So Gio is a welcome addition as SP while Lopez (and Burdi) work out their issues.
This season Gio has struck out 26 in 24+ innings.
Why doesn’t this “rumor article” talk about how effective Gio has been this season?!!
lol his k rate is all he has going for him. He has negative WAR this year
His WHIP is almost 2 at 1.86
Dumpster divin’ Rick
@johnrealtime
You realize Gio just came off the IL, that he’s been with the team all year. The word “activate” should’ve tipped you off.
If you’re talking about picking Gio up in general this year (in regards to dumpster diving), you’re way late to the party. I wouldn’t call him a dumpster dive, but to each their own.
No, Gio is certainly not a dumpster dive. He was more like a final clearance rack item. He’s OK but at the same time nobody expected him to be stellar.
I’m just making fun of all of the sox fans who post this on every cubs post about a new acquisition
I thought he was retired.
You might be thinking of Maddon that retired out there.
yea. Honestly, I didn’t realize he had pitched this season until this article.
Excellent news getting Gio back. Beginning Friday the Sox play 17 games in 17 days with no off day so another SP option is huge as is long relief.
Why is there always some kind of fighting or arguing in Whitesox posts?
@southsidebatman
Usually it has something to do with Dogbone (or those of his ilk). And we can’t get rid of Dogbone via the moderators, and he’s certainly not going away on his own. So unfortunately, there you have it.
Trust me, I would love to come on here and just discuss the Sox, especially the way they’re playing this year. But apparently drama and trolling bring more hits to this site. And this is about it when it comes to the message boards, at least on the major sports sites.
It’s between the idiot Cub fans and the idiot Sox fan that has multiple accounts and trolls them. It’s tiresome and certainly not funny or informative.
Speaking of why I came on here in the first place:
I’m not exactly brimming with confidence in seeing Gio back on the mound (though he was pitching better before he hit the IL). But with the uncertainty of Keuchel, they’re going to need innings. So hopefully Gio has enough in him to give 5 innings, which he hasn’t done yet this year (though he’s been close a few times).
What would be wonderful is Lopez figuring it out in Schaumburg and coming back up soon, but we just can’t expect that this year. Just like we can’t expect Rodon to even come back this year (or do anything if by chance he does make it back).
Hopefully they don’t rush Keuchel back. They have 4 guys (Giolito, Keuchel, Cease, and Dunning) to at least go out there and battle. Cease is still uneven, though he’s improving (he’s still a year away). Dunning is still too new. He’s been great, though against 2 laughing stocks. I guess we’ll find out starting next week how well he pitches against good teams (Minny, Indians, Cubs). Still, the Sox can do much worse than those 4 come playoff time.
Gio is that veteran presence any team wants around playoff time. He will help then if used right the rest of the way. I truly feel that the white Sox are world series bound , and that hurts to type lol. Bye the way please trade Robert’s and giolito to the mets, well give you Diaz and Alonzo lol.
The Sox screwed themselves by targeting only high profile pitchers at the trade deadline like Clevinger or Lance Lynn. They should have been targeting very mediocre pitchers, guys with an ERA of like 5, where they would not have had to give up anything of significance.
Having said that, Gio is certainly their best 5th starter option. Rodon did not throw a 60 pitch session this weekend because of shoulder discomfort, so I think that pretty much ends his 2020 season. Gio has done better recently than at the start of the year, and like it or not, they don’t have any better options. With the off days this week they can keep their 4 man rotation this turn. So I think Gio will likely get the ball Tuesday vs the Twins when their 5th starter slot comes up.
Will be rough starting off the series vs the Twins with Dunning and Gio the first two games. If they can split those two it would be a miracle. Hopefully Keuchel will not miss a turn.
Not as worried about Dunning. He’s generally good at keeping the ball on the ground. If he does that against the Twins and doesn’t walk too many, he gives them a good chance. Gio…well, let’s just say I’m not counting on a sweep.
It makes every fifth game slightly less of a bullpen day, but he’s just not been effective. I’m hoping for the best, and maybe he can be a little better if he’s healthy now, but I don’t have very high hopes. Fortunately, once the playoffs start, you only have a 4-man rotation.