Dane Dunning showed flashes of his potential in his MLB debut. He dominated in his second start.
Dunning held the Kansas City Royals hitless in Sunday’s series finale from Guaranteed Rate Field. He didn’t do it over all nine innings like Lucas Giolito, but he was pulled after the fifth inning.
As frustrating as Dunning’s early exit may be, the 25-year-old was making his second appearance after Tommy John surgery in 2019. He left after 79 pitches. White Sox relief prospect Tyler Johnson summed up how it felt watching:
The Royals got on the board in the sixth after Dunning departed, but the Florida product made a great case for staying in the White Sox rotation.
In his debut, Dunning struck out seven against the Detroit Tigers on Aug. 19, but tired in that start. This time around, he was pulled before any fatigue showed affect.
Dunning struck out seven, walked one and threw 45 strikes out of his 79 pitches. His fastball was 91-92 mph on Sunday, a bit down from 92-94 last time out, but that could have been adrenaline for his debut.
Dunning struck out the side in the first inning and got 13 swinging strikes on the day. Of those 13 whiffs, he got seven on sliders and six on fastballs. His four-pitch mix with command and movement on every pitch kept the Royals off balance.
Luis Robert steals the show
Dunning starred early, but fellow rookie Luis Robert will take many headlines after a walk-off home run that put the White Sox into a tie for first place. Robert took two balls to the warning track earlier in the game, but blasted a first-pitch slider over the left field wall to win the game in the 10th inning.
Robert now has nine home runs and 22 RBI on the season. He leads MLB rookies in both categories and it looks like he is in a two-way race for AL Rookie of the Year with Seattle’s Kyle Lewis.
Nick Madrigal is living up to his scouting report
Before Dunning’s no-hit bid was getting serious and well before Robert ended the game, Nick Madrigal was quietly doing his thing. Madrigal drove in the first run of the game with a two-out single in the second. Madrigal finished with three hits.
This was his second game back from the injured list (separated shoulder) and he is 5-for-8 since returning. Overall, the 23-year-old is hitting .400/.423/.400 in seven games.
That means Madrigal still doesn’t have an extra base hit, but is hitting .400 anyway. When he was drafted, and continuing through the minors, Madrigal was known as a contact hitter without much power. He is taking that to the extreme in his brief time in the majors so far.
Overall, Sunday was a big win for the White Sox. They took the rubber game from the Royals and moved into a tie for first place in the AL Central. Importantly for the long-term health of the team, three rookies fueled the win, almost by themselves.
Photo credit: Clint Cole/FutureSox
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