White Sox manager Robin Ventura told reporters Wednesday afternoon that left-hander John Danks is likely to start the season on the DL. He had surgery to repair a torn capsule in his shoulder in addition to rotator cuff and biceps tendon debridement last August.
Danks, 27, has had a miserable spring, allowing 21 runs on 27 hits with more walks (five) than strikeouts (four) in 11 innings. Reports indicate his fastball is sitting in the mid-80s after residing in the 90-94 range before surgery. Danks has gone 57-60 with a 4.12 ERA in six big-league seasons.
The White Sox are likely to use either right-hander Dylan Axelrod or left-hander Hector Santiago to fill out the rotation. Ventura hinted Axelrod is the favorite at the moment. Chris Sale, Jake Peavy, Gavin Floyd and Jose Quintana figure to occupy the first four spots of the rotation. Free agent Kyle Lohse probably isn't a consideration.
Johan Santana, Chris Young, Chien-Ming Wang, Dallas Braden and Mark Prior are among the starting pitchers who have dealt with a torn shoulder capsule in recent years, and none has returned as the same pitcher. Danks is still owed $63 million over the next four years as part of the heavily backloaded five-year, $65-million contract he signed prior to last season.
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