Chicago White Sox Could Have Young Flamethrower Ready For Opening Day Despite Mild Injury Setback
After being shut down from throwing earlier this week with an arm issue, Chicago White Sox' reliever Prelander Berroa started throwing again on Friday and has a chance to be ready for Opening Day.
Per Daryl Van Schouwen of ALLCHGO.com on social media:
Prelander Berroa, who has been sidelined with shoulder soreness, is on the mend and throwing today, Grifol said. "Everything looks good, everything has checked out pretty good," Grifol said. "He’s on pace to crank it up."
That's good news for Chicago, who is littered with opportunity on their pitching staff after offseason trades of Aaron Bummer, Gregory Santos and Dylan Cease (the team also traded Lance Lynn, Reynoldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and Joe Kelly last year).
Berroa, who was acquired from the Seattle Mariners this offseason in the trade for Santos, enters the season as the No. 16 prospect in the organization.
He made his major league debut with Seattle last season, tossing 1.2 scoreless innings and striking out three.
The following comes from a portion of his MLB.com prospect profile:
Though he's far from physically imposing at 5-foot-11, Berroa can overmatch hitters with a pair of power pitches. He throws his upper-80s slider about 60 percent of the time, and it gets a lot of empty swings and chases while showing tight break at times and more depth at others. His four-seam fastball sits at 95-98 and touches 100 with armside run, though it can straighten out at times and get hittable.
Berroa struggled as a starter because he lacked feel for a changeup he since has scrapped and struggled to provide consistent strikes. He still battles the zone because he has an effortful delivery that he struggles to repeat. He should claim a role in Chicago's bullpen this year, and how much he can improve his control will determine if he'll eventually reach his ceiling as a closer.
The White Sox finished fourth in the American League Central a season ago.
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