Sept. 08--White Sox rookie Carlos Rodon was supposed to start his major-league career in the bullpen to limit his innings, but things just happened.
He was inserted into the rotation when Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija were handed suspensions in April for their roles in a brawl with the Royals.
Rodon never looked back and has posted a 1.84 ERA over his last five starts, while ranking second among rookie starters with 9.53 strikeouts per nine innings.
But with 26 games left, could the Sox shut down Rodon later this month?
"We could," manager Robin Ventura said. "It depends where we're at (in the wild-card race). Can he go to the end of year? Yeah, I think he can go to the end of the year. I don't think he's gotten to that point where he's hit a wall or we're in a numbers crunch or anything like that.
"But if ... you get to a point where you want to (shut him down), you take care of him."
Rodon said Monday he hopes to stay in the rotation the rest of the way.
"I'm more than willing to," he said, adding it's not his decision.
Rodon is at 1182/3 innings going into Tuesday's start against the Indians, and threw another 10 innings in two minor-league starts. He should have five starts left, depending on how Ventura slots Erik Johnson into the mix.
Agent Scott Boras, who is in the news for demanding the Mets stick to an innings limit for ace Matt Harvey, met with general manager Rick Hahn before Rodon's call-up to discuss his usage.
"I don't know what we're really trying to keep (the innings limit) at," Rodon said. "But they've been very careful and asked me how I feel. They've done a great job managing my health and innings. I'm trying to stay healthy for them, go deep into games."
In his first full year as a starter in 2012, Samardzija was shut down on Sept. 8 after reaching 174 innings, almost doubling his 88 innings from the previous year.
Samardzija fought the decision and still doesn't feel it was necessary.
"I would've rather kept going," he said. "I felt good. Ultimately that's what it's all about. It's kind of individual based -- how you feel. You can get caught up in X, Y, Z numbers."
Should the Sox be cautious with Rodon?
"Harvey is coming off surgery, so it's a little different than Rodon," Samardzija said. "Rodon is a big, strong kid. You base your decision off that, and also where the team is at, and what your future plans are for him.
"You definitely want to stretch him out, and that way, when he's ready to throw 200 or more innings, he can do it."
