White Sox rookie review: Codi Heuer

Despite there being no minor league season in 2020, there were a significant number of White Sox prospects who made big strides. The White Sox had 12 players make their MLB debuts.

We are taking a look back at how they fared and what it means for their future. Following starting pitchers Dane Dunning and Jonathan Stiever, Codi Heuer is the first reliever on our list.

Relevant stats: 23.2 IP, 1.52 ERA, 25 K, 9 BB, 12 H in the regular season (21 appearances)

2.1 IP, 2 R, 2 K, 1 BB, 2 H in the playoffs

Heuer’s backstory is noteworthy for White Sox talent identification and development. We’ve covered it before, but the abridged version is the White Sox were doing interviews at Wichita State for Alec Bohm. Bohm ended up going third overall in 2018, one pick before the White Sox took Nick Madrigal. While they were researching Bohm, Wichita State’s coaches encouraged them to look into Heuer.

Heuer was inconsistent as a college starter, but then scouting director Nick Hostetler eventually knew he wanted him. The Sox got him in the sixth round. Heuer started in Great Falls that summer, but moved into a relief role in 2019. The White Sox had him skip past Low-A Kannapolis and he finished the year in Double-A Birmingham.

After impressing in Summer Camp, Heuer made the Opening Day roster for the White Sox. It’s not clear if he would have been able to pull that off in a normal year. Heuer was in big league camp for spring training, but the pandemic cut things off before significant cuts had been made. Regardless, he made the team and hit the ground running.

The right-hander began his career with clean innings in his first two appearances. He showed off a fastball that averaged 97.6 mph with mostly good command and a quality slider. In September, Heuer didn’t allow a run across 12.2 innings with 15 strikeouts against five walks and five hits. With that in mind, it’s sad that Heuer’s last pitch of 2020 was a home run allowed.

In the Wild Card series against the Oakland A’s, Heuer pitched a clean eighth inning in Game 2 on eight pitches. He came back for the bullpen-heavy Game 3. He entered in a jam in the third inning with two runners on and one out. After an infield single loaded the bases, Heuer got a pop out and a strike out to get out of trouble.

Heuer went back out for the fourth and gave up a two-out, two-run home run to Sean Murphy. Heuer allowed one run home in 23.2 innings in the regular season and hadn’t given up a run in over a month, but this is the most recent memory of him for White Sox fans. The White Sox still had a 3-2 lead when Heuer left, but things unraveled shortly after.

Playoff experience aside, Heuer showed he is an above average big league reliever and has the potential to be a high-leverage reliever. His MLB Statcast profile shows he gave up some hard contact, but had a high whiff rate to make up for it across the board.

Heuer began the year as a bit of a sleeper relief prospect and ended up being one of the best relievers on the team as a rookie who skipped Triple-A. Any improvement going forward would turn him into a closer candidate. He may not get that role in 2021, but Alex Colome is a free agent so it’s possible. Of all the White Sox rookies in 2020, Heuer was one of the biggest surprises.

Image credit Sean Williams, FutureSox

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