Chicago White Sox Counting On Top Pitching Prospect To Fill Rotation Depth

He's their fourth-highest ranked pitching prospect, and No. 9 overall on the Chicago White Sox' MLB Pipeline top prospects list, and the team is counting on Sean Burke to take that next step and be a part of the White Sox rotation—sooner than later.

According to assistant general manager Chris Getz, Burke is expected to be the next in line to take his role in the Chicago starting rotation. 

The staff is in a bit of a quandary entering 2023, with newly-signed Mike Clevinger under MLB investigation for a domestic violence incident. In addition, Michael Kopech had an injury-riddled finish to the '22 season, and Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn are trying to bounce back from off years.

Getz hopes that Burke is ready to fill in at the big league level. “He’s a guy that’s going to be able to add innings," said Getz. "Last year he had a very productive year. Certainly one of our better starters in the minor leagues and worked his way up to Triple A. He’s a guy that we view as a rotation piece fairly soon, and can be for the foreseeable future.”

Sean Burke had 4 K’s in his first AAA start. There were a couple rough bits, but the stuff is there. He hasn’t been talked about enough. #Knights #WhiteSox pic.twitter.com/075PfJ48Pt

— White Sox Daily (@dailywhitesox) September 23, 2022

Burke ran off a string of seven starts in Double-A from the beginning of August in which he struck out 46 hitters in 28.1 innings with a 2.54 ERA. That earned him a late-season promotion to Triple-A. The plans are for the next step to occur in 2023. 

“I was trying to take three, four years of minor-league baseball lessons and shrink them all into one year and learn as much as possible,” said Burke. “So that, going into this year, I’d have a shot to be in Chicago and have a lot of information and have a lot of confidence to do well there."

Photo: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports