White Sox: Miguel Gonzalez is a quietly good pitcher
By Bill Pivetz
The White Sox lost ace pitcher Chris Sale but veteran Miguel Gonzalez is off to a great start. If you need a pitching replacement, he is someone to look at.
We all know the offseason the Chicago White Sox have. There may be more moves coming but as of right now, the White Sox are in first place, albeit an 11-9 record. The offense isn’t put up big numbers, so it’s the pitching staff that is carrying this team. One pitcher doing without much fanfare is Miguel Gonzalez.
Gonzalez is off to a hot start after his first four games. He is 3-0 with a 2.00 ERA, 1.074 WHIP and 20:8 K:BB ratio. He limits opposing base runners and the ones he does allow on base stay there, evident by his 84.0 strand rate.
In three of his four starts, Gonzalez got the win and quality start. On April 18, he went 8.1 innings with one run on four hits and a walk while striking out four against the New York Yankees.
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He was just as good in his most recent start against the Kansas City Royals. Gonzalez pitched eight shutout innings while allowing two hits and a walk with five strikeouts.
Gonzalez’s only bad start came against the Cleveland Indians. He lasted just 4.2 innings after giving up three runs on eight hits and four walks. He did strike out five.
Gonzalez is not a big strikeout hitter, 6.7 K/9. He induces a lot of groundballs, 41.8 percent, and fly balls, 46.8 percent.
He doesn’t produce a lot of swinging strikes, 8.6 percent, or swings on pitches outside of the strike zone, 32.5 O-swing rate. His 3.35 FIP projects that a rise in his ERA could come soon.
In his four years with the Baltimore Orioles, Gonzalez averaged a 3.82 ERA, 1.284 WHIP, 6.5 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9. His first year with the White Sox is more of the norm from Gonzalez. He posted a 3.73 ERA, 1.237 WHIP, 6.3 K/9 and 2.3 BB/9.
If you are in need of a starting pitcher, I like Gonzalez but I may wait until after his next start. He faces the Detroit Tigers on April 30 on the road. Before being shutout on Wednesday, the Tigers scored a combined 32 runs in their previous two games. They can put up six-plus runs and kill Gonzalez’s ratio stats.
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Gonzalez is owned in just 25.9 percent of ESPN leagues. His ownership percentage went up 22.8 percent over the last week. His last two starts are the reason why. While his next matchup isn’t ideal, he’s performed well against other top offenses. Knowing that he’ll face the Minnesota Twins and Royals a few more times is a good thing.