6. Chris Sale, White Sox: Wow, that was fast. Sale was in Chicago just two months after being drafted in the first round of the 2010 First-Year Player Draft. And he wasn’t there just to check out the scene; he ended up closing games during a pennant race. His long-term role, though, should be as a starter, so he can use his plus fastball, above-average slider and outstanding changeup to greater effect. He has a terrific mound presence and is mature, so he should be able to handle the opportunity to join the White Sox rotation soon without any real difficulty.
Sale spoke about his changeup that barely showed up, 7%, in 2010:
On his absent change-up, and newly prominent slider: Chris expressed that the gradual disappearance of his change-up (a go-to pitch in college), and emergence of his slider (a show-me pitch in college), was more of a thing that just kinda happened without any particular design. He postulated that it may have been due to him facing an inordinate number of lefties, but views it as a positive development, because he’s still really comfortable with his change-up, and now has developed equal confidence in his slider.
