WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF SEPTEMBER 19, 2017 “Prospect Hansen eyeing bigs after strong '17” … Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Top 10 storylines from the White Sox minor league season” … Dan Santaromita, CSN Chicago “White Sox Q&A: Offseason goals, Matt Davidson and when team might return to postseason” … Chris Kuc, Chicago Tribune “Alec Hansen, who led all minor-leaguers with 191 , among White Sox success stories” … Colleen Kane, Chicago Tribune “Giolito, Lopez seeing why more was better in minor leagues” … Daryl Van Schouwen, Chicago Sun-Times “Hansen looks to join in 2018” … Scott Gregor, Daily Herald “White Sox rookie lefties working through major league trials side by side” … James Fegan, The Athletic Prospect Hansen eyeing bigs after strong '17 By Scott Merkin / MLB.com | @scottmerkin | September 18th, 2017

CHICAGO -- There was a time during the 2015 season when Alec Hansen was considered a potential top pick overall in the '16 Draft.

After a rough junior season at Oklahoma in 2016, with a 5.40 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP in 51 2/3 innings, the right-hander "slipped" to the White Sox in the second round of the 2016 Draft. But it didn't take long for Hansen to not only put up dominant numbers at the Minor League levels, but also to start thinking about big league possibilities.

"I definitely feel like I'll be able to start consistently in the Major Leagues toward the end of next year," Hansen said during a conference call. "This first full year, it was great that it taught me about my arm and how my arm is going to feel in between every start and how my body is going to feel throughout the season. I can go into this offseason and work out and get my body the way I want it to going into , and be able to maintain that throughout the season next year.

"I'll have a lot more confidence and experience that's going to help me. By the end of next year, that experience and confidence in my body will be where it needs to be to be in the Major Leagues for good." Hansen's 2017 body of work certainly gives him reason for that big league optimism, building off of a strong debut in '16. The 6-foot-7 22-year-old moved from the AZL White Sox to Rookie-level Great Falls to Kannapolis in '16. He then jumped from Kannapolis to Class A Advanced Winston-Salem to Double-A Birmingham this season.

Over two starts for the Barons, Hansen pitched 10 1/3 innings while striking out 17, walking three and allowing five earned runs. Those 17 K's gave him 191 for the season, tops among Minor League hurlers.

"That's something I'll remember for the rest of my life -- that I led the Minor Leagues in strikeouts this year, which is pretty cool," said Hansen, who has a 2.39 ERA over 38 career starts. "It was in A-ball where guys swing a lot and are pretty aggressive at the plate.

"But it was nice to see I went up to Double-A and still had quite a few strikeouts. That was kind of reassuring that it wasn't just a thing because I was in the lower levels."

Hansen's confidence and pitching knowledge clearly have grown as part of the White Sox, whose confidence in taking a chance on him has been rewarded with an apparent front-line starter as the team's No. 6 prospect per MLBPipeline.com.

"It's all been a lot of fun and that's been what allowed me to succeed," Hansen said. "As far as pitching-wise, my fastball command has been pretty good, but that could get a little bit better.

"Besides that, the biggest thing is being able to command my breaking balls -- my slider, my curveball -- for a strike better. Then refining my changeup a little bit, getting it to slow down a little bit. It's probably like six mph difference from my fastball. If I could get it to eight, that'd be really good. But other than the breaking ball and the changeup, that's really it.”

Top 10 storylines from the White Sox minor league season By Dan Santaromita / CSN Chicago | September 18, 2017

White Sox prospects received more attention from fans and media this year and on Sunday the White Sox minor league season concluded with rookie level Great Falls dropping the decisive game in the Pioneer League Championship.

Here's a look at some of the standout players, storylines and moments from the season that was, from Yoan to Eloy to Robert.

1. gets called up to make his White Sox debut after seven-player trade with Yankees

Yoan Moncada wasn't only the top White Sox prospect but the top prospect in baseball according to some, so when he was the first big prospect in the club's rebuild to get called up, it was a significant moment. Moncada mania began with a standing ovation from the home fans in his debut. He drew a walk in his first plate appearance and later said his White Sox debut had a similar feeling to his major league debut with the Red Sox.

2. Eloy Jimenez’s arrival and immediate hot streak

Trading Jose Quintana to the Cubs wasn't an easy pill for White Sox fans to swallow. With that in mind, it's a good thing that Eloy Jimenez quickly turned public perception of the trade in the White Sox favor. Jimenez had good, but not great numbers with the Cubs' affiliate Myrtle Beach (.271/.351/.490) when he was traded. Jimenez had missed some time due to injury, but staying in the same league, he erupted with the Winston-Salem Dash. In 29 games with the Dash, Jimenez hit .345/.410/.682 and blasted eight home runs.

One of the highlights was when Jimenez told teammate Ian Clarkin, who arrived from the Yankees just days after the Quintana-Jimenez trade, that he was going to hit a . After Jimenez did in fact go yard that game, Clarkin shared Jimenez's prescient call on Twitter.

Jimenez provided more magic by blasting a home run in his first at-bat for Double-A Birmingham. In 18 games with the Barons, Jimenez hit .353/.397/.559 and solidified his spot as one of the best hitting prospects in the game. He has impressed the White Sox and Jimenez thinks he is ready to play in the majors.

3. The saga

With the major league team struggling on the field, the off the field moves attracted most of the attention. The chase for Cuban free agent Luis Robert riled up Sox fans, who were eating up the latest news and rumors about the then-teenage prospect.

When the Sox landed Robert, it was another big move for a quickly improving farm system. The outfielder has received high praise from around baseball.

After signing Robert played in the Dominican Summer League. He missed some time with minor injuries, but finished hitting .310/.491/.536.

4. dominates in Double-A

Along with Moncada, Kopech was a big part of the Chris Sale trade. When the White Sox got him he was a hard-throwing 20-year-old who had plenty of strikeouts, but also plenty of walks.

After continuing that trend for the first three months of this season, something appeared to click for Kopech. The former first-round pick walked 11 batters in 44 1/3 innings in his final eights starts with Birmingham. He struck out a whopping 58 during that stretch and earned a late-season promotion to Triple-A Charlotte.

When he was in Birmingham, Kopech created buzz the Barons hadn't seen since Michael Jordan. He finished tied for fifth in the minors with 172 strikeouts on the season, which impressed the White Sox front office and earned him Southern League Most Outstanding .

5. and Reynaldo Lopez make White Sox debuts

Moncada was the first major prospect to get promoted in the White Sox rebuild, but Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito represented the first pitching prospects to join the big league club. Both joined the White Sox in the trade in the offseason, had major league experience and began the year in Triple-A.

Lopez's debut came first. After rolling off a hot July in which he posted a 2.10 ERA, Lopez pitched a quality start on Aug. 11 in his White Sox debut.

Meanwhile, Giolito waited a little bit longer after struggling for much of the year in Charlotte. He had a 5.40 ERA in his first 16 starts for the Knights, but found some consistency later in the year and drew rave reviews when he made his Sox debut on Aug. 22.

6. Breakout years for Alec Hansen and Dane Dunning

Lopez and Giolito received most of the attention in the Eaton trade, but in the early part of the season it was Dunning who was making the most noise in the minor leagues. The 2016 first-round pick utterly dominated the opposition in Single-A Kannapolis with a 0.35 ERA and 33 strikeouts against just two walks in 26 innings. Dunning got promoted to Winston- Salem and finished tied for 11th in all of the minors with 168 strikeouts, capping off a stellar first full season in pro ball.

Amazingly, Dunning may have been outshined by his own teammate. Alec Hansen, who the White Sox drafted in the second round last year, didn't get promoted out of Kannapolis as quickly, but dominated in Winston-Salem and finished the year in Birmingham. He ended up leading all of with 191 strikeouts and he thinks 2018 could be even better.

7. White Sox draft in the first round and he hits for a cycle

The White Sox will have a higher draft pick next year, but this year the Sox picked up Missouri State third baseman Jake Burger with the No. 11 pick.

Burger began his pro career hot by hitting .358 in Kannapolis, but slumped the rest of way. Burger hit .219 in August and September, but did hit for a cycle on Aug. 24.

8. struggles at the plate, but shows defensive improvements

When Zack Collins was drafted by the White Sox with the 10th pick in 2016, he was thought of as a sure-thing bat with question marks about his ability to play catcher. So naturally, his 2017 played out in exactly the opposite way.

He hit .223 in Winston-Salem while striking out 118 times in 426 plate appearances, but got promoted to Double-A Birmingham anyway. He got promoted the same day as Eloy Jimenez and both homered in their Birmingham debuts. Collins posted an .893 OPS in Birmingham, but still hit just .235.

Collins received better reviews about his defense, which he owes partially due to training with Dodgers catcher , a fellow University of Miami product.

9. ’s Tommy John Surgery

When Zack Burdi was with the White Sox in spring training, he was trying to act like he belonged in big league camp. The fire-balling relief prospect was in line to be the White Sox closer of the future.

After beginning the season in Triple-A Charlotte and producing uneven, but promising results, the White Sox learned in July that Burdi would need Tommy John Surgery. A look at the White Sox bullpen now shows a lot of young, unproven and Burdi likely would be among them had he stayed healthy.

Now, it's all about the recovery for the 22-year-old, whose upside combined with the lack of proven arms in the White Sox bullpen means he remains a potentially key part of the team's future.

10. Micker Adolfo flashes power potential

Micker Adolfo wasn't a high-profile prospect at the start of the year, but had a breakout season. The 21-year-old was a big international signing back in 2013, coming with a $1.6 million signing bonus.

He was named the White Sox minor league player of the month for both May and June. He began to show his power potential with Kannapolis and helped the team make it to the South Atlantic League Championship Series. Adolfo slowed in the second half, but finished with 16 home runs, tied for fifth in the league.

Bonus: Nicky Delmonico shines in short big league stint

It wasn't a big deal at the time, but Nicky Delmonico's promotion has looked like a potentially significant moment for the White Sox rebuild. He has had a breakout performance in the majors and has made a strong case that he could be a significant part of the team's future.

White Sox Q&A: Offseason goals, Matt Davidson and when team might return to postseason Chris Kuc / Chicago Tribune | September 18, 2017

The Tribune's Chris Kuc answers readers' questions about the White Sox offseason, Matt Davidson and when the team will return to the postseason.

Since the White Sox are rebuilding, other than picking up some reclamation bullpen help, how active do you think they will be in the offseason? – @RexFermier

The main focus of the White Sox during the offseason will be to continue assessing and developing the prospects they've acquired during the rebuild. Beyond that, general manager Rick Hahn will keep searching for free agents along the lines of Luis Robert while also looking for trades that will pay off in the long run. I don't foresee the Sox making any kind of a blockbuster deal unless they decide—and it's possible—that Avisail Garcia won't be part of the rebuild and Hahn trades away the 26-year-old coming off his most productive season. Garcia, who will be a free agent in 2020, was a first-time All- Star, is hitting .333 and has already set career-highs in home runs (17), RBIs (77) and runs scored (67). He would bring back the kind of haul that has already made the Sox's farm system arguably the best in baseball.

Are the White Sox committed to Matt Davidson for next year or do you see an upgrade at third base? – @armands70vail

Davidson has quietly put together a strong rookie season and likely won't be going anywhere for the next couple of years. The 26-year-old has the third-most homers by a rookie this season with 25 and ranks seventh with 64 RBIs. Davidson is under team control through the 2019 season and could hold down the third-base spot until Jake Burger, the Sox's first- round pick (11th overall) in the 2017 draft, arrives on the scene. Burger could also shift to first base, which is also an option for Davidson, if the Sox want to make Jose Abreu a designated hitter in the long term.

Realistically, what is the earliest that you see this team back in the playoffs? – Steven, Yorkville

White Sox fans should think respectability before playoffs, but I'll play along. If—and it's a BIG if—many of the Sox prospects pan out, 2020 is as good a vision as any. Next season will be more of the same: Acquire prospects for any tradable assets remaining while slowly acclimating the current crop to the majors. That brings us to '19, when the Sox need to start moving forward and establishing a winning culture. They won't go from 95 losses to winning a division so progression toward the .500 mark has to be made. Once '20 rolls around, the collective patience fans are currently displaying needs to be rewarded with any remaining holes needed to be filled are done so by free agency.

Alec Hansen, who led all minor-leaguers with 191 strikeouts, among White Sox success stories Colleen Kane / Chicago Tribune | September 18, 2017

White Sox prospect Alec Hansen said he will remember for the rest of his life the season he led all minor-league pitchers with 191 strikeouts.

The final 17 strikeouts, after he was promoted to Double-A Birmingham, might mean a little more to the 22-year-old right- hander.

"(Most of it) was in A-ball where guys swing a lot and are pretty aggressive at the plate, but it was nice to see I went up to Double A and still had quite a few strikeouts," Hansen said. "That was kind of reassuring, that it wasn't just because I was in the lower levels. ... I feel like if you lead the minor leagues in strikeouts, you definitely have major-league stuff. That was pretty exciting."

Hansen's first full professional season was a big success among several such stories in the Sox system.

Baseball America named him to its minor-league All-Star second team after he posted a 2.80 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in 26 starts and 141 1/3 innings at three levels. Outfielder Eloy Jimenez was named to the first team, and right-hander Michael Kopech was on the second team.

Hansen, a 2016 second-round pick, climbed from Class A Kannapolis to Winston-Salem and finally earned the promotion to Birmingham for his final two starts, in which he gave up five earned runs on 15 hits with three walks and 17 strikeouts in 10 1/3 innings.

A look at the White Sox starting roster in 2020 The White Sox rebuilding project should be complete in 2020. Here's what the starting lineup and rotation could look like. Not pictured: Alec Hansen, RHP, minor-leaguer (Colleen Kane) For a pitcher who dropped out of the first round because of a rough junior year at Oklahoma, it reinforced he is on the right path — one he hopes could bring him to the majors by late next year.

"It definitely boosted my confidence that the organization moved me up in those last two weeks," Hansen said. "It really helps knowing what to expect. I hope that I start in Birmingham next year. … (When) I got moved up to Kannapolis the year before, I just hit the ground running when the season started there this year, and I hope to do the same thing next year."

General manager Rick Hahn singled out Hansen earlier this month when talking about judging the 2016 draft based on a more conservative three-year path to the majors for a college player.

"Having Hansen already in Double A is a huge step forward in terms of where he was a year ago when we drafted him," Hahn said. "It's a great tribute to him and our player development people."

Hansen said he benefited from an improving changeup this year and hopes to use it more next season. Learning how his body and arm handle a full professional season was also high on his list of positives.

"My fastball command has been pretty good, but that could get a little bit better," he said. "Besides that, the biggest thing (to work on) is being able to command my breaking balls — my slider, my curveball — for a strike better.

"And then refining my changeup, getting it to slow down a little bit. It's still kind of hard. It's probably like 6 mph different from my fastball. If I could get it to 8, that'd be really good."

Roster moves: The Reds claimed infielder D.J. Peterson off waivers and the Sox outrighted catcher Alfredo Gonzalez to Birmingham, reducing the 40-man roster to 38.

Giolito, Lopez seeing why more was better in minor leagues Daryl Van Schouwen / Chicago Sun-Times | September 18, 2017

When young White Sox right-handers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez spotted Class AAA Charlotte pitching coach Steve McCatty at the door of the visitors’ clubhouse at Comerica Park during the weekend, both of them jumped out of their seats to give a warm welcome

It was obvious both pitchers, who figure to hold down places in the Sox’ rotation next season and beyond, were appreciative of the guidance McCatty provided this summer.

“He helped me a lot this year to get to where I am now,’’ said Giolito, who’ll make his sixth start Tuesday, when he faces the Astros in Houston. “The biggest thing was helping me regain confidence in my stuff.’’

McCatty, who pitched nine seasons with the Athletics, including three under manager Billy Martin from 1980 to ’82, has some old school in him, Giolito said.

Lucas Giolito takes a 2-2 record and 2.56 ERA into his sixth start against the Astros Tuesday. (Getty Images) “After every inning, especially if I seemed like I wasn’t going after hitters, he’d say, ‘You have good stuff; go after these guys!’ And in sides, he was that old-school pitching coach, like, ‘It’s your stuff against theirs; challenge them.’ He really helped me build up confidence in Charlotte.’’

Giolito needed that. Lopez believed he was more than ready to open the season in the majors after showing well in spring training and, like Giolito, had big-league experience with the Nationals in 2016. In hindsight, he says the 121 innings in Charlotte were important.

“That experience I gained allowed me to be here as a better, mature pitcher,’’ Lopez said. “I have a better understanding of the things you need to be successful.’’

Lopez is 2-3 with a 4.84 ERA in six starts with the Sox since saying goodbye to McCatty in August. He had one bad start, when he pitched with a sore back in Texas. Giolito is 2-2 with a 2.56 ERA.

“We tried to hone some things mechanically, just to be more consistent, make sure I was getting to the right positions,’’ Giolito said.

Giolito, Lopez and 2015 first-round draft pick Carson Fulmer are blazing a trail as the first wave of young talent shaping what the Sox believe will be championship-caliber pitching. Not far behind is 2016 second-round pick Alec Hansen, a righty who led the minor leagues in strikeouts in 2017. Hansen finished at Class AA Birmingham.

“I’ll have a lot more confidence and experience that are going to help me, and by the end of next year, that experience and confidence in my body will be where they need to be to be in the major leagues for good,’’ Hansen said.

Going into his junior year at Oklahoma, Hansen was considered a potential No. 1 overall pick, but because of command problems, he fell to the second round, where the Sox gobbled him up.

After one season in rookie ball in the Sox’ system, the organization liked how he seamlessly climbed through Class A Kannapolis, advanced Class A Winston-Salem and Birmingham.

“It definitely boosted my confidence that the organization moved me up,’’ Hansen said.

Alec Hansen ().

Hansen has a 93-97 mph fastball and good breaking ball, and his confidence is growing in his changeup, which he knows will be a needed third pitch as a major-league starter.

“At times, I have better command of it than I do any other offspeed pitch,’’ he said. “It’s become as good a pitch as my breaking ball.’’

The Sox would like nothing more than to see Hansen in a major-league uniform, talking about what he learned and how he got there.

“All the work we’ve put in, and we’ve each had our individual struggles throughout the season, especially at Triple-A,’’ Giolito said of himself, Lopez and Fulmer, who has made two consecutive strong starts. “Now we’re here and want to prove ourselves at this level and show guys we belong. We’re doing a good job. I’m proud of those guys, the way we’ve been competing, as well.’’

Hansen looks to join Chicago White Sox in 2018 Scot Gregor / Daily Herald | September 18, 2017

Draft day is predictable, in any professional sport.

Teams always seem to be thrilled when enticing picks are still on the board, and that was the case with the Chicago White Sox in June 2016.

Alec Hansen was available in the second round, and the Sox were turning cartwheels after drafting the 6-foot-7 starting pitcher out of the University of Oklahoma.

"Coming in this time last year, he was probably projected to be (No. 1 overall) in the country," White Sox director of amateur scouting Nick Hostetler said after drafting Hansen. "Big-time power fastball, it's 97 to 100 (mph). It's four plus pitches when he's on.

"There's some mechanical things we feel we can fix. The guys in the room, (pitching coach) Don Cooper looked at some video for us, feels there's some small mechanical adjustments that as soon as we make he's going to take off."

Hansen did make some necessary adjustments, and the right-hander was a 2-1 with a 1.32 ERA in 12 combined starts with the Arizona League White Sox, Advanced Rookie Great Falls and low Class A Kannapolis last year.

Not bad at all, but the 22-year-old Hansen really took off this season.

"Honestly, I had no idea what was going to happen to me this year," Hansen said. "If you asked me at the beginning of the season where I expected to end up, I wouldn't have said Double-A. But if you asked me toward after the all-star break and after a couple of starts at Winston-Salem, where I started to pick it up a little bit, then I was kind of hoping I was going to finish at Double-A."

Hansen opened this season back at Kannapolis, but he worked his way up to high A Winston-Salem and ended up at AA Birmingham.

Not only was Hansen a combined 11-8 with a 2.80 ERA at the three levels, he led all minor-league pitchers with 191 strikeouts (in 141⅓ innings).

"That's something I'll remember for the rest of my life, that I led the minor leagues in strikeouts this year, which is pretty cool," Hansen said. "It was in A-ball where guys swing a lot and are pretty aggressive at the plate. But it was nice to see I went up to Double-A and still had quite a few strikeouts.

"That was kind of reassuring that it wasn't just a thing because I was in the lower levels."

After finishing his first full season as a professional this year, Hansen is understandably confident.

"This first full year, it was great that it taught me about my arm and how my arm is going to feel in between every start and how my body is going to feel throughout the season," he said. "I can go into this off-season and work out and get my body the way I want it to going into spring training and be able to maintain that throughout the season next year."

Given his rapid rise in the White Sox's system, you can understand why Hansen has set his sights on being in the major leagues at some point after the all-star break in 2018.

"I definitely feel like I'll be able to start consistently in the major leagues toward the end of next year," he said. "I'll have a lot more confidence and experience that's going to help me. By the end of next year, that experience and confidence in my body will be where it needs to be to be in the major leagues for good."

White Sox rookie lefties working through major league trials side by side James Fegan / The Athletic | September 19, 2017

In a White Sox bullpen that has lost David Robertson, Anthony Swarzak, Dan Jennings, Tommy Kahnle and Tyler Clippard this season, the still 23-year-old (for few more days) lefty is one of the youngest current members of the relief corps. But with over six weeks gone by since his major league debut, he's relatively on par with the rest of the group for experience.

He has enough to serve as a guide to the even greener Jace Fry at least.

“You don't have to get dressed,” says Bummer, explaining an apparent big league luxury to Fry, who had begun to hastily slap on his uniform in response to a simple invitation to play catch on the field. “You can wear whatever you want.”

For all of their pitching development wizardry, the White Sox haven't had much luck with left-handed relievers, driving them to hand a three-year deal to Zach Duke and trade for Dan Jennings to shore up a weak spot in their efforts to contend. To shake out of that rut, they're counting on two members of their 2014 draft class with Tommy John surgery scars on their left arms (or two, in Fry's case). And while they might be competing for the same role, and maybe the same roster spot at some point, Bummer and Fry are counting on each other — and obviously are throwing partners too.

“We started in Great Falls together so we’ve done the whole thing together really, learned a lot from one another,” Fry said, retracing their friendship and partnership back to rookie ball in 2014. “Reading hitters, learning how to get lefties out as opposed to getting righties out and just talking baseball. What we see from specific lineups because in Birmingham, we’re facing the same lineup. If he went in first he’d come back, tell me what he thought and then if I went in first, I’d tell him what I thought. Our minds have kind of melded together and gotten stronger as the years have gone on.”

One year after their draft year season in Great Falls, both went down for Tommy John surgery, two months apart. For Fry, a third-round pick and college star of the Oregon State rotation, it came with a decision to make. He had already gone under the knife once in college, and while the Sox had him starting in Winston-Salem, a second elbow reconstruction forced a conversation about what would keep him healthy enough to have a major league career.

“As a starter I was breaking down and I don’t know if it was mechanics or really what it was but I just kept getting hurt so many times,” Fry said. “It felt like being a relief pitcher at least for a little while might be the right answer. So I was indifferent on the decision. I wasn’t up or down.”

Despite giving up four runs combined in his three innings pitched, Jace Fry is getting the chance to work through things in Chicago for now. (Kamil Krzaczynski/USA TODAY Sports) Shortly after Fry arrived in Arizona for rehab in February 2016, he was joined by Bummer and the two went through the recovery and rehab process together. Showing up everyday at the White Sox facility in Glendale meant a lot of training together, a lot of throwing together, and a lot of talking. Eventually commiserating about strength exercises and scar tissue gave way to sharing observations, as they both pieced together the slightly different versions of themselves that came back after reconstructive elbow surgery.

“The stuff all came back and it was just really cool for us to watch,” Bummer said. “We were able to see what we were in Great Falls in 2014 and then we both came back and definitely had an uptick in velo and stuff and then even to this day we’re still trying to get all the feel back for what we were beforehand.”

Fry, who threw a typical four-pitch mix of fastball, slider, curveball and changeup, saw his slider fundamentally change, albeit with no alteration to his grip and arm action. All of a sudden it was firmer and teasing 90 mph with the same movement, making it more of a cutter that could be used to jam right-handers in addition to getting lefties to chase out of the zone. His curveball, which used to sit in the mid-70s, suddenly became a harder swing-and-miss pitch, aiding him to the tune of 52 strikeouts in 45 1/3 innings out of the bullpen this year in Double-A Birmingham.

Bummer, on the other hand, saw his arsenal switch places with Fry. His cutter, which Bummer describes as being Fry's cutter, became the slider that he uses now. Hitting 96 mph post-surgery, Bummer earned a surprising invitation to big league camp in spring training — where he was of course working closely with Fry — and found himself on the fast track through the minors. Despite starting in Winston-Salem, he and Fry were reunited again in Birmingham a month into the season.

“When I got to Birmingham this year, it was kind of the same plan,” Bummer said. “We’d be walking off outings, walking inside, immediately start talking about what we did, what we liked sequencing-wise, pitch selection-wise. We’re still doing that here so it’s a cool progression to start in Great Falls together and end up here.”

Out of the four levels Bummer has pitched at this year, 33 innings in Birmingham with a 3.00 ERA and 34 strikeouts with Fry as his teammate will wind up being Bummer's longest stop. While he lapped his friend and beat Fry to the majors by over a month, playing alongside each other for four years now means he was just behind Fry's fiancee and family members on the notification list. Or in some cases ahead, since Fry's father was on a fishing trip outside of cell phone service when the first call from his son came.

Success hasn't come immediately to either pitcher. After drawing Anthony Rizzo as his first major league hitter and striking him out, Bummer got to enjoy the experience of his first home run two batters later, his first loss in his next outing, and his first walk-off loss two outings after that. Don Cooper gave an early endorsement and assured that none of Bummer's rookie struggles would dissuade the team's belief in his stuff. Which is good since Bummer currently has more walks than strikeouts as he works to reign in what he called a “gunslinger” delivery with a lot of moving parts.

Fry saw the first pitch of his major league career crushed off the left field wall by Carlos Santana, and is still searching for his first career after five outings. He said he embraces the challenge of needing to be sharp for the “10-to-15 pitches” he gets to affect the game with coming out of the bullpen, but has thrown just three total in his last two outings as Rick Renteria has hunted for matchups to use him in. It was to be expected, but it's still tough to work through.

The stuff looks like it should work from both, and there are minor league numbers to show that it has in the past, even if the control needs to take a jump up. The rebuild offers the White Sox a long opportunity to let the pair take their lumps, and there's certainly room in the bullpen for multiple lefties, especially with Fry's starter arsenal. But they're similar pitchers, both by nature and by way of sharing mental resources and adapting each other's pitches. They know they could find themselves fighting for the same major league job, or even sitting in Triple-A, with their promotion dependent on the other struggling or getting hurt.

They know that's possible, even if they're still too new to the majors to really be looking that far ahead, because it's the same position they were in as they were racing to the majors side-by-side.

“We both knew we were going to pitch in a big league bullpen someday,” Bummer said. “It’s always a competition between us and it’s always been a competition between us. But it’s a friendly competition that we pull for each other through and through, and it's always in support and being as happy as can be for what he’s doing for his career.”

There's a chance Fry & Bummer become an imposing lefty relief duo on the South Sidefor years to come. They've certainly both beaten the odds already to make it this far, and would love to keep their working relationship going as long as possible. But they also know even this much time together is rare, and are going to continue trying to make the most of it.