White Sox Wild Cards: Burke and Nastrini

Cactus League action is in full swing. It's safe to say that our White Sox have not exactly #SetTheTone thus far out in the desert. I've spent quite a bit of energy highlighting some of the intriguing storylines surrounding the club thus far. 

Whether it's Jonathan Cannon needing to refine his pitch, or Cannon, Davis Martin, and Drew Thorpe needing to find ways to miss more bats, I think there are plenty of angles to explore with this crop of young hurlers. With no spots really guaranteed to anyone, outside of Martin Perez, these early March games are essentially a proving ground for the youngsters to show what improvements they've made over the winter.

The results have been mixed thus far, to say the least. Davis Martin has looked solid to this point in the spring, seemingly giving himself an inside track on a rotation spot and possibly the start on Opening Day in less than three weeks.  Cannon has seen some improvement in his ability to generate swings-and-misses through two outings thus far, but he's given up some pretty hard contact in five innings of work spread out over two outings.

Games in Arizona can be a bit of a tough gauge for pitchers, particularly unproven ones like Cannon. We never really know what particular tasks they are working on in an individual outing and the thin desert air can turn Cactus League parks into launching pads, particularly when the weather starts to heat up. As pitchers begin to get more stretched out with each progressive outing, it will be interesting to see how they are able to navigate lineups especially once they start seeing them a second time through.

Navigating The Zone

There are two other pitchers in Sox camp looking to cement their positions on the staff once the team breaks camp and heads to Chicago for Opening Day on March 27th. Sean Burke and Nick Nastrini are two pitchers who both got their first taste of big league action a year ago, and their results couldn't be more polar opposites from each other. As a result, the attention each is garnering this spring is corresponding with what we saw from them in 2024.

Burke came up in September and across 19 IP posted a 1.42 ERA with 22 strikeouts and seven walks. This was a very welcomed late season surprise for a team that was on a historic death march down the season's final stretch. It gave the Sox front office and fans a modicum of hope that perhaps Burke could be a hidden gem for an organization desperately needing some positive news. 

Nastrini on the other hand, was the worst case scenario for a pitcher reaching the game's highest level for the first time. Across 35.2 IP, the 24-year-old righty posted a ghastly 7.07 ERA with 26K compared to a gut-wrenching 36BB. I'll be the first person to admit that I'm really down on Nastrini at the moment based upon what we saw in the brief sample size a year ago, but I also have some underlying concerns about his performance across the minor leagues.

Burke and Nastrini represent the core issue I laid out early in the off-season facing, my guy, Brian Bannister. Both youngsters need to find a way to command the strike zone better, limiting walks if they are to take up permanent residence at the corner of 35th & Shields whether in the rotation or a bullpen role. 

The inability to consistently stay ahead of hitters has plagued both pitchers since they entered pro ball. For Burke, he posted 4.9 BB/9 across 233.1 IP before reaching the Majors in late September. At the same time, Nastrini, thought to be the centerpiece of the 2023 deal that sent Lance Lynn to the Los Angeles Dodgers, has issued free passes at a clip of 4.6 BB/9 spread out over 330.1 minor league innings. 

As we saw with Nastrini last year, issuing free passes at such an alarming rate simply will not work against the best hitters in the sport. His inability to consistently work ahead of hitters proved to be his downfall in his limited time with the club a year ago. Needless to say, both pitchers will have to place a high level of importance on working ahead in counts if they are to survive and hopefully thrive for a Sox team that will provide plenty of opportunities for innings in 2025. 

The hope is that over the course of the winter, whether it was through mechanical tweaks or other factors, both pitchers will see improvements to their control and command this season. Both pitchers did show an ability to miss bats in the minor leagues, which is a positive. Burke posted 11.5 K/9 in his tour of Sox affiliates while Nastrini punched out hitters to an even better 11.9 K/9 rate during his time in the Dodgers and Sox systems. If the two hurlers are able to find themselves ahead in counts with enough regularity, they just may position themselves to stick around into the foreseeable future.

Early Results 

As mentioned earlier, spring training performances can be tough measuring sticks. Each year we see players set the Cactus and Grapefruit Leagues ablaze only to come crashing down to earth when they no longer have overmatched minor leaguers in opposing lineups or on the mound. So, it's important to take what you see with a grain of salt whether positive or negative. However, to this point we've seen some positive things from both Burke and Nastrini.

Burke's Cactus League debut against the Padres saw him put up two scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts and one free pass. His second outing against the A's wasn't as strong as his command got away from him a bit, seeing him walk two and surrender a pair of runs against the California nomads. While the results have been uneven, we've seen the power fastball/breaking ball combination that he displayed last year upon his callup that gives us hope. 

Nastrini has been a very pleasant surprise in his three outings thus far. He's managed to strike out six hitters while issuing just two free passes in his 7.2 IP. He did get touched up a bit on Saturday against the defending World Champion, Dodgers, but seeing him come out of the gate strong commanding the strike zone more effectively is a positive sight to say the least. Nastini's performance the final two and a half weeks of camp will be very important as he is fighting for a spot on the pitching staff, most likely, in a bullpen role. 

Sean Burke and Nick Nastrini are two young pitchers looking to break camp with a big league club for the first time in their respective careers. Both pitchers showed promise across the minor leagues, however, their propensity to lose command of the strike zone was always the thing holding them back. If Brian Bannister, Ethan Katz, and the rest of the pitching development team are able to help the pair make meaningful adjustments heading into 2025, each could play an important role for a team that is still sorting out their pitching inventory. 

With innings guaranteed to nobody in 2025, it will be a test to see which young hurlers can grab the bull by the horns (I know you're all thinking about the painting in White Goodman's office). Can Sean Burke and Nick Nastrini seize the opportunity and cement their positions on this pitching staff? Only time will tell, but one thing I am fairly confident in is the fact that both will need to demonstrate a consistent ability to attack hitters in the strike zone and not succumb to the walk woes that each faced before reaching the corner of 35th & Shields.