23-year old righty starting pitcher Nestor Molina came to the White Sox over the winter in the Sergio Santos deal with the Blue Jays. He comes into this season as the White Sox’ #2 prospect. Molina has pitched in 5 games (all starts) in AA-ball so far this year and he is 3-1 with a 3.56 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. He has now pitched in 108 games (32 starts) in his first six years in the minors and he is 30-8 with 9 saves, a 2.34 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. Molina could get his first shot at the show at some point in 2012 if he keeps pitching well and the need arises in Chicago.

Last year, 32-year old lefty swinging DH Adam Dunn had a nightmare of a season in his first year with the White Sox. He played in 122 games for the Pale Hose last year and he was 66 of 415 (.159 avg, .569 OPS) with 36 runs scored, 11 homers and 42 RBIs. Dunn whiffed an absolutely stunning 177 times last year, but that’s what you get with him as he is essentially an all or nothing hitter. White Sox’ manager Robin Ventura has been batting Adam Dunn 3rd in the lineup so far this year, and he’s looking a lot better. Dunn has played in 23 games for the White Sox so far this year and he is 18 of 81 (.222 avg, .864 OPS) with 12 runs scored, 5 homers and 16 RBIs. He has walked 18 times already this year, but he has also whiffed 35 times. The White Sox hope that Dunn’s power numbers stay solid this year.

The White Sox have placed 30-year old righty reliever Jesse Crain on the 15-day disabled list, retroactive to April 21st, due to a right oblique strain. Crain has pitched in 6 games (0 starts) for the White Sox so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 2.57 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP. The White Sox have called up 26-year old righty starter/reliever Dylan Axelrod to replace Crain in the bullpen. Axelrod pitched in 4 games (all starts) in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 2-1 with a 1.08 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP. He pitched in 4 games (3 starts) in his first taste of the majors with the White Sox last year and and he was 1-0 with a 2.89 ERA and a 1.45 WHIP. I think Axelrod is going to do a solid job for the White Sox, but they are still going to miss Crain as he has been really sharp so far this year.

23-year old righty starting pitcher Andre Rienzo has been suspended for 50 games for testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. Rienzo has pitched in 4 games (all starts) in A-ball for the White Sox so far this year and he is 3-0 with a 1.08 ERA and a 0.96 WHIP. He has now pitched in 77 games (63 starts) in his first six years in the minors and he is 25-17 with a 3.37 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Rienzo came into this season as the White Sox’ #17 prospect according to Baseball America, but the team has to be very disappointed in him right now.

23-year old righty swinging Dayan Viciedo was pretty much handed the starting LF job this spring, and he has been pretty awful so far this year. He has played in 15 games for the White Sox so far his year and he is 9 for 52 (.173 avg, .516 OPS) with 3 runs scored, 2 homers and 2 RBIs. Viciedo is still showing an utter lack of discipline as he has walked only 1 time so far this year while whiffing 14 times. He has now played in 82 games in his first three years with the White Sox and he is 67 of 258 (.260 avg, .697 OPS) with 31 runs scored, 8 homers, 21 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. The White Sox aren’t likely to give Viciedo a long leash if he doesn’t start to turn things around soon.