Black Sox Beat Writer
Chicago Sports Online
The Chicago Black Sox this weekend named bright young pitching prospect Bernie Stuart as their “Newcomer of the Year” for the 2045 season.
Bernie Stuart
“Given that Pedro won the Hitter of the Year, we thought it was only fitting that we honor Bernie, too,” said Sox manager Julian Negrete. “Bernie stepped into the rotation without missing a beat, and helped carry us across the finish line to the playoffs. Without him, who knows what happens?”
Bates went down for the season with elbow inflammation on Aug. 20, and Stuart came up to the big club the next day from AAA Carolina, where he had put together a 13-4 record with a 2.99 ERA, 10.1 K/9 and 4.7 WAR.
After his call-up to Chicago, Stuart went 3-0 with a 2.37 ERA, 11.6 K/9, and 1.5 WAR.
“He was outstanding,” Negrete said.
Now, although Bates has recovered and rejoined the team, it’s widely thought that he’ll drop to No. 3 in the rotation, with Stuart taking over as No. 2 and challenging Amayas Moelling for staff ace going forward.
“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Stuart said. “It’s nice to hear things like that, but Amayas and David are established stars and I’m just a noob. But, tell you what, I’ll definitely work my butt off to help make all those nice things come true.”