White Sox pitchers opening eyes in Ballers rotation
It was hard to get too excited, on paper, about the Kannapolis rotation coming into the White Sox affiliate’s season. But so far it has defied those expectations in a big way. The rotation possesses some young upside arms but the unknown can be difficult to deal with.
In the past two seasons, the Cannon Ballers’ rotations have featured some highly-regarded, top draft picks, like Noah Schultz (first round), Peyton Pallette (second round) and Tyler Schweitzer (fifth round) in 2023 and Seth Keener (third round) and Lucas Gordon (sixth round) one year later. Schweitzer was recently promoted to Triple-A Charlotte and he ranks at #23 overall at MLB Pipeline.
Young Starters in the White Sox System
By comparison, this year’s squad features only one high draft pick, 2023 5th-round pick Christian Oppor, along with Luis Reyes, the Sox top international signee in 2023 ($700,000). Reyes spent a season in the Dominican Summer League and another in the Arizona Complex League. The top hurler out of the Dominican Republic from the club’s 2023 class is now making his full season debut.
Among the rest, there’s Nick Pinto (2024/19th round), Justin Sinibaldi (2024/14th round) and Mason Moore (2024/15th round), along with two less-heralded international free agents, Ricardo Brizuela and Gabriel Rodriguez. But, out of the gate, this group looks terrific.
At the top of the list is Christian Oppor, a 20-year-old lefty from Gulf Coast State Junior College in his first year of professional ball. In two starts, opponents hit a measly .194 against Oppor. But, even more impressive, the former Wisconsin prep has yielded just three walks while striking out 16.
Oppor has a big, four-seam fastball in the mid- to upper-90s, and he pairs it with two excellent breaking pitches, a sweeper and changeup, both in the upper 70s to low 80s. The 20-year-old was drafted in 2023 but spent all of 2024 in Arizona working out some kinks in his mechanics. Oppor posted a 5.21 ERA in Arizona while averaging 11 K/9 and over 6.5 BB/9.
There’s also a lot of buzz early around Reyes, 19, from the Dominican Republic. I watched his start this past Saturday and was blown away, especially by a wipeout slider. Unlike so many young pitchers in Low-A, Reyes, like Oppor, has not struggled with control early on. In 9.2 innings, the righty has walked five while striking out 10.
Late Round Draftees Helping White Sox
Pinto is yet another Kannapolis starter who has featured decent control early. The 24-year-old, 2024 19th-round draft pick out of UC Irvine has walked just six while striking out 13 in 14 frames this year.
Moore, a 2024 15th-round pick out of Kentucky, has made just one start so far in 2025 but it was a strong one: five innings pitched, just two hits, no earned runs, three walks and six strikeouts. Moore was scratched this week and put on the IL because of soreness but the matter is not consided serious.
Sinibaldi has some rough overall numbers because he failed to get out of the first inning in his first start, but he bounced back this week with three hits and one earned run over four innings, along with no walks and four strikeouts. Sinibaldi, 23, is a 2024 15th-round draft pick out of Kentucky.
Recent International Signees Round Out Young White Sox Rotation
The first, Ricardo Brizuela, is a 21-year-old out of Venezuela who made 10 starts in Kannapolis last year. And although he flew a bit under the radar, he had excellent results, as reflected in a 1.21 WHIP. He has been solid again this year. These were both low dollar additions from recent international classes.
Finally, Gabriel Rodriguez, 21, had an excellent start two weeks ago but took a step back this past week when he gave up three hits and four walks in 2.2 innings.
After a spate of serious arm injuries in the spring (Adams, Thorpe, Bush, Carela, Bautista) wiped out a bit of the Sox minor-league pitching depth, it looks like yet another wave may be building in Kannapolis.
