How Codi Heuer went from inconsistent college starter to White Sox reliever

There have been a lot of young players contributing to the White Sox in the first half of the season. Codi Heuer might be one of the most surprising.

Then again, if you ask the right people in the White Sox organization they aren’t very surprised.

Heuer was drafted in the sixth round just two years ago. In July he became the second player from that draft to make the majors. He has been one of the steadier relievers in the bullpen with a 3.00 ERA in nine innings. The right-hander racked up nine strikeouts against two walks and six hits.

He has done this despite skipping Triple-A and having just one year as a reliever in the minors. Heuer is a notable win for White Sox scouting and development. General manager Rick Hahn pointed that out in a conference call on August 5.

“He was a guy that as a starter there wasn’t, quite frankly, a lot of excitement in that draft room about him. However, Nick Hostetler, I distinctly remember, Nick had seen a good deal of him because of (Alec) Bohm who was a high pick that year, he was one of his teammates,” Hahn said. “Nick kept coming back to him and saying ‘This guy can help us. It might be in a bullpen role, but this guy can help us.’ I give him a ton of credit for that.

“I reached out to him when we told Codi he made the team. I texted Nick soon thereafter to congratulate him and let him know that we didn’t forget that he was the guy who pushed for that.”

Hostetler was White Sox amateur scouting director when the team drafted Heuer. The story of how Heuer became a player Hostetler pushed for is worthy of a scene in a movie. Hostetler first told the story on NBC Sports Chicago’s White Sox Talk Podcast ahead of the 2019 draft. He was asked about which player from the 2018 draft wasn’t getting enough love. He immediately went to Heuer.

“Codi is a testament of what we do behind the scenes and nobody sees and why I am puffing my chest a little bit on this one,” Hostetler said to begin the story.

Hostetler went with fellow scouts Garrett Guest and Mike Shirley, who is now the amateur scouting director, to meet with Bohm. Bohm ended up going third overall to the Philadelphia Phillies that year after a standout career at Wichita State. The White Sox picked fourth and wound up with Nick Madrigal.

The White Sox contingent sat down with Wichita State coach Todd Butler and the team’s pitching coach, Mike Steele. Steele, who has since landed a job as a minor league pitching coach with the Cleveland Indians, was adamant that Heuer had a future in the majors.

“The head coach Todd Butler and pitching coach Mike Steele explained to us how hard of a worker and athletic Codi was,” Hostetler told FutureSox’s Sean Williams at spring training this year. “Coach Steele pushes open the film room door and Codi was in there breaking down film.”

Hostetler knew that Heuer had been up and down that year. He had been moved out of the weekend rotation for a stretch. He finished with a 4.31 ERA with 82 strikeouts and 37 walks in 79 1/3 innings. Far from bad numbers, but not necessarily anything that jumps out as a high draft pick.

Still, his coaching staff raved about his work ethic. Plus, Hostetler knew the area scout, Robbie Cummings, “loved” Heuer.

Cummings, who was drafted by the White Sox in 2009 and played two years in the minors, first saw Heuer the fall before his junior season.

“He was tall and lanky and his arm worked extremely loose and was able to reach the mid 90s with little to no extra effort,” Cummings told FutureSox. “The amount of extension he was able to generate was something that really intrigued me because it appeared to lead to the ball getting on hitters quick. His fastball showed run in on right-handed hitters and the slider ran away from them creating a very uncomfortable at-bat. Codi was a guy that our entire scouting staff was high on and we were fortunate to get multiple looks from several scouts to really feel convinced that he was our guy come draft day.”

Had spring training finished Heuer would have had a chance to make the big league club for Opening Day. However, under normal circumstances, he probably would have been slotted for Triple-A Charlotte. Heuer pitched between Single-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham in 2019. Despite having just under 30 innings above A ball in his career, Heuer made the White Sox out of Summer Camp. Expanded rosters helped, but he has pitched well enough to keep his spot after rosters went from 30 to 28.

“I am not surprised at all that he has made it to the majors this quick,” Cummings said. “I think our player development staff did a great job of working with Codi and improving his command of all pitches and helping tighten up his slider and making it a consistent offering, which put him in a better position to have success and helped accelerate his ascent through the minor leagues. I’m excited to watch his continued development and future success.”

The White Sox didn’t always project Heuer as a bullpen arm. After being used mostly as a reliever his first two years of college, he made 15 starts as a junior. When he reported to rookie level Great Falls after the draft, all 14 of Heuer’s appearances were starts.

He moved to relief in 2019 and his velocity has played up. His fastball is consistently 97-98 and he has good command of it. When Cummings saw him in college he showed flashes of that velocity in short stints, but was in the lower 90s as a starter. Cummings took that as a hint the White Sox could get more velocity out of Heuer.

“I thought that any role he would have been put in he would have success, but he has really taken a hold of the reliever role that he is in and is pitching with a great amount of assertiveness,” Cummings said. “He has the mindset and competitiveness to be in the high-leverage situations relievers often find themselves thrust into.”

Proving himself in high-leverage situations is the next step for Heuer’s career. If he can, it will be an even bigger win for the White Sox scouts which identified him.

James Fox contributed to this story.

Photo credit: Codi Heuer’s Instagram

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