White Sox: Carlos Rodon low expectations for two-start week

The White Sox just got back their young starter Carlos Rodon last week. He pitched well but has lower expectations in his two starts this week.

The Chicago White Sox are looking towards the future this season. With little signs of improving, the team may look to sell some of their bigger assets. Yet, the team did get back one of their pieces for the future, pitcher Carlos Rodon.

After a decent start against the injured New York Yankees, Rodon enters this week with two starts lined up. Unfortunately, the second of those starts could be one of the worst matchups he could have this early in his return.

Rodon pitched five shutout innings (three unearned runs) on two hits and six walks while striking out two. He earned his first loss of the season. The lack of hits is nice, but the six walks in five innings is a bit frightening. Rodon only threw 41 of his 94 pitches for strikes. If he’s going to be fantasy relevant the rest of the season, that obviously needs to get better.

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Rodon makes his next start Monday on the road against the Oakland Athletics. The A’s didn’t hit well in June. The team hit .247 with 38 home runs and 134 RBI while striking out 285 times (second highest for the month).

I think Rodon should be able to take advantage of Oakland’s free-swinging spirit and earn his first win of the year, as long as he doesn’t walk more batters than innings pitched. I would use him as a streaming option.

If you are in a weekly league and can’t change your lineups once the week has started, I would avoid Rodon this week.

After he pitches against the A’s, Rodon and the White Sox travel to Colorado. Any pitcher starting against the Rockies, except for Clayton Kershaw or Madison Bumgarner, should be avoided at all costs.

The Rockies had the ninth-best batting average last month (.276) along with 140 runs scored. The team was without Carlos Gonzalez for the final weeks, but he has since been activated from the 10-day DL. Him, along with Charlie Blackmon, Trevor Story and Nolan Arenado make for a dangerous top of the lineup.

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With the number of injuries this season, fantasy owners are desperate for starting pitching. Rodon’s been added 8.3 percent of ESPN leagues over the last week. He’s still available in over 70 percent of leagues. I would watch him this week to see how he pitches before adding him.