Two White Sox Pitchers With Something To Prove In Cactus-League Opener

You can watch White-Sox baseball today. Friday opens Cactus-League play and the White Sox will send Dylan Covey to the mound along with a slew of other hurlers auditioning for a big-league roster spot.

There are two pitchers in particular that fans should pay close attention to: Thyago Vieira and Tyler Danish. Danish is a familiar name around White Sox camp. He was a frequent contributor in Spring Training games last season and made his first major-league start in 2017 filling in for a briefly injured Covey. Despite walking six Detroit batters, Danish fought through adversity to post a goose egg and swipe his first win. Danish is a sweeping departure from the stable of flamethrowers the White Sox are ushering to the show, but his menu of dependable secondary pitches and ability to nibble the corners may serve him well. The starting rotation is wide open and there is at least one spot that available given Carlos Rodon’s injury. This is a video taken before he was drafted but the angle provides a good illustration of what his pitches can do. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o5ab2_lh88 Vieira is less known on the south side of Chicago. He was snagged from the Seattle Mariners in November in exchange for international bonus pool money. At Triple-A last season, Vieira posted a career-high groundball rate (52.6 percent) and featured a fastball/slider combination that will serve him well out of the bullpen. With a high-90s fastball, Vieira is a candidate for closer, but Joakim Soria appears to have that role sewn up. Yet, Vieira offers versatility in late innings. The only question is whether he can command his stuff. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6pLmD321BE The slate of pitchers scheduled to take the mound this weekend will fuel a lot of discussions, as will many of the lineups trotted out by Rick Renteria. If nothing else, enjoy the sandy, desert hue beaming through your television.