Cannon's Struggles Raise Questions About Long-Term Future In White Sox Rotation

Jonathan Cannon struggled on Friday, failing to get through four innings as the White Sox fell 7-4 to the Tigers in their first road game of the season.

Cannon lasted just 3.2 innings, allowing three earned runs on three hits and three walks before being pulled. The 24-year-old right-hander's struggles continue a troubling trend that dates back to last season.

While Cannon did rack up five strikeouts, he struggled to put hitters away, needing 88  pitches to record 11 outs. The former third-round pick got ahead in the count 0-2 or 1-2 on ten occasions but still surrendered a hit-by-pitch, a walk, and an RBI groundout. The other seven instances resulted in three strikeouts, two groundouts, and two flyouts. It is a continuation from last season, where his 21.8% whiff rate ranked in the bottom 19th percentile in the MLB. 

Cannon will need to improve his control, as his walk rate has spiked early this season. After posting a solid 7.7% walk rate last year, he has already issued free passes to 15% of the batters he’s faced this season.

In 22 career starts, Cannon has only made it through the sixth inning in ten of them, which has put added pressure on an already unstable bullpen. While Cannon did throw five shutout innings against the Angels, in his first start of the season, he was lucky to escape unscathed. He was forced to constantly work through traffic on the basepaths after allowing four hits and three walks. 

It’s still early in the young right-hander’s career, but the early returns have been concerning. In 24 career MLB games, Cannon owns a 4.31 ERA in 129.1 innings of work. While those are solid numbers for a rookie it does not tell the whole story. 

Cannon relies on a five-pitch mix, each with plenty of movement. However, his 17.4% strikeout rate ranked in the bottom ten percent of MLB pitchers last season. Opponents have also had no trouble barreling up Cannon, with a .258 expected batting average and 89 mph average exit velocity which each rank in the bottom half of the league. 

It’s still too early to press the panic button just yet, but with prospects like Hagen Smith, Noah Shultz waiting in the wings and Drew Thrope and Ky Bush recovering from Tommy John surgery, Cannon’s future in the White Sox rotation look bleak unless he can find a way to go deeper into games.