Chicago White Sox: 2021 grade for Jonathan Stiever

The Chicago White Sox have outstanding pitchers all over the place. Their starting rotation was stacked in 2021 and their bullpen was very good as well. We all want to see the bullpen be just a little bit better but it was certainly formidable. With all this competition for innings with the White Sox, it makes it hard to make it if you aren’t performing well.

One pitcher who is suffering from this a little bit is Jonathan Stiever. He had one appearance in Major League Baseball during the 2021 season and it did not go well. He relieved Michael Kopech who made a brilliant spot start after five innings and ten strikeouts. Stiever came in and gave up three runs before recording an out and was pulled.

That was the last time we saw him in a Major League uniform this year. He never earned his way back onto the lineup card after this awful appearance. He is better than what he showed in that one game but sometimes you get what you earn.

In the short 2020 season, Stiever made a couple of spot starts and looked like he could be someone who provides starting pitching depth. Now we know that he is a long way away from being able to say that.

As mentioned before, he didn’t use the Minor Leagues to earn his way back up to MLB. In AAA Charlotte, he went 5-5 with a 5.84 ERA and a 1.459 WHIP. He punched out 88 hitters in 74.0 innings pitched. It isn’t the type of stat line that is going to get anybody called up.

2021 Final Grade: F

Stiever is one of the few players in the Chicago White Sox organization that gets an F on the season. It is the type of F that could be turned around in one offseason if he just finds his way back to the MLB and performs well. He has shown that he can do it in the recent past and just needs to come in fresh for 2022.

2022 Outlook:

Jonathan Stiever is going to come into 2022 with a chance to show his stuff again. Spring training will be big for him as he tries to resurrect his career. He will almost certainly begin the year in AAA Charlotte where he will try to have a better start.

If he does, he might find some innings in the MLB and if he doesn’t, he will spend the year in AAA. This team has a lot of good young players and those who don’t stick out simply won’t make it. Hopefully, Stiever is able to reach that potential that we once thought he had.