Jake Peavy's health will obviously be a critical part of he success of the White Sox this season. Most of the articles that I read on Peavy talk about his progress and his hope to return to the rotation in April. But what a lot of people think about the time able on Peavy's return is not right.
The Sox start the season on Friday April 1st in Cleveland. They play 3 there before traveling to Kansas City. But there is an off day between the first and second series of the year. What does this do? Well, it gives Peavy an extra 4 days before he is first needed. Here, let me spell it out.
April 1 - Buehrle
April 2 - Floyd
April 3 - Danks
April 4 - Off Day
April 5 - Jackson
April 6 - Buehrle
April 7 - Floyd
April 8 - Danks
April 9 - Peavy
Even if Peavy is ready to start for the 5th game of he season, I wouldn't do it. The Sox have to be very careful with him this whole year. Maybe skip a start here and there. But the easiest thing to do is work around off days. This season is slightly different than many as the Sox only have 2 off days in April. But there are two at the beginning of May. If you model the rotation correctly, there no harm in skipping Peavy when you see off days.
I'd love to see Jake back in the rotation as early as possible, but they have got to be smart about it. Chris Sale will benefit this team a lot more in the bullpen than he will rotation as the staff sits now. So Peavy's health has to be of utmost importance to Ozzie and Kenny.
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