For the second time this season, Nick Nastrini is in the White Sox rotation, and this time around, it appears that he will be given more than a couple of starts to show whether or not he belongs.
It’s strange calling anything a silver lining amidst a franchise-worst 15-40 start, but there is little harm at this point in giving Nastrini a stretch of starts to learn against major league lineups. On that front, there was good news on Monday. He faced the Blue Jays for the second time in a week and showed some signs of progress from one start to the next.
The White Sox rotation has some stable pieces in Garrett Crochet and Erick Fedde, but there is space for a guy like Nastrini to establish that he might fit as well. And this is not new territory for Nastrini, either.
Rewind to the middle of March, and Nastrini was still in the conversation to be in the White Sox rotation on opening day. The day after Dylan Cease was traded to the Padres, pitching coach Ethan Katz said there were as many as ten pitchers in consideration, and Nastrini was one of those ten.
“We’ve got a lot of options. He’s still here, so I think anybody that’s still in camp is in the picture to do anything, so we’ve got a long way to go,” Katz said on March 14. “But he’s still here, he’s still throwing, got him built out to be an option.”
Nastrini joined the rotation in mid-April, delayed by a bout of pneumonia. After an impressive debut against the Royals, Nastrini gave up five earned runs in three innings against the Phillies on April 21. He was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte the next day.
Just a month later, Nastrini was recalled and looked to have picked up where he left off against Philadelphia. He gave up eight earned runs in three and a third innings against the Blue Jays in Toronto. But this time around, the White Sox appear to have a longer leash for Nastrini, preferring to allow him the opportunity to grow as a pitcher in the majors instead of in Triple-A.
“He should feel comfortable enough to know he’s a big part of the future,” manager Pedro Grifol told reporters before that May 22 start. “One start is not going to make or break his career here. I just want him to go out there, enjoy the moment, have some fun.”
In Monday’s 5-1 loss to Toronto, Nastrini took something of a step forward. He tossed five three-run innings, tagged for all three runs on homers by George Springer and Bo Bichette. Springer’s home run was preceded by a walk to Daulton Varsho, one of four free passes from Nastrini.
“Walks definitely need to come down,” Nastrini said. “But I executed pitches when I had to. I had runners on second and third in that fourth and got out of it. Definitely some things I need to work on, but compared to the last one, it was a step in the right direction.”
In that fourth inning, Bichette led off with a solo homer and Varsho and Isiah Kiner-Falefa got to second and third with two outs, but Nastrini was able to get Cavan Biggio to pop out to shortstop on a fastball.
“He used his fastball better today and didn’t give up on it,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “He threw some good sliders too, mixed in some good changeups. Definitely better this time. Executing his pitches but using his fastball, it’s a really good fastball.”
In all, Nastrini got seven outs on balls in the air. One of the changes he had hoped to make from previous starts getting his fastball higher in the zone.
“I got some pop ups on the infield when I needed it, they were there,” Nastrini said.
A day after the White Sox were nearly no-hit by Orioles starter Kyle Bradish and Grifol said most of the team was “f*cking flat” and characterized their collective effort as “unacceptable,” the offense had ten hits but just one run to show for it. They loaded the bases against Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt in the first inning, but didn’t score until Gavin Sheets homered in the eighth inning.
Going into Monday’s game, the White Sox had the lowest team batting average (.214) and least runs scored (157) in baseball. Pitching-wise, they don’t fare much better. After Sunday’s games, they had a 28th-ranked ERA (4.70) and 27th-ranked walk rate in the league.
That’s part of the reason why Nastrini can get the opportunity to work through things at the major league level. As the White Sox navigate the first year under a new front office that took over late last season, seeing whether Nastrini might fit in long-term plans is necessary. And again, there is a case to be made for letting him make a few more starts with the big league club to show whether or not he fits in the rotation.
Doing that will come in small steps. For now, that means trusting his best pitches and knowing when to use them.
“He used his fastball better today and didn’t give up on it,” Grifol said. “He threw some good sliders too, mixed in some good changeups. Definitely better this time. Executing his pitches but using his fastball, it’s a really good fastball.”
Nastrini said his Memorial Day start against the Blue Jays was a step in the right direction because he was mostly able to execute like he planned for after the last start.
“We talked about that a lot throughout the week, execution, because that’s honestly what it comes down to,” Nastrini said. “You can have great stuff, but if you don’t execute, it doesn’t matter. It’s something I made a big point of today.”
