For the 2011 Chicago White Sox, there are far more questions about the pitching than there are about the offense. And two of the major pitching questions can be answered with one player’s heath.

“That’s all predicated on Jake Peavy,” Joe Cowley, of the Chicago Sun-Times, said on the Danny Mac Show when asked about Chris Sale’s role for the season. “If Peavy comes in shows enough where they feel comfortable that, ‘OK, we think we can get away with going with four starters and having a spot starter two or three times in April,’ because that’s what it breaks down to with all the off days, then you put Sale in the spot he’s most important.”

LISTEN: Joe Cowley On The Danny Mac Show

Outside of being one of the top two starters in a rotation, the next more important pitcher on a team is the closer. And that’s a role that some envision for Sale his near and possible long term future.

“I can’t get over the quote that Joe Mauer told Peavy about Sale,” Cowley said. “That that was as uncomfortable at the plate as he’s ever felt at the plate, facing Chris Sale. To me, that carries a lot of weight. This isn’t some punch and judy hitter. This is an American League elite hitter. And if Chris Sales makes him uncomfortable, I imagine there’s a couple other hitters that are lefties that feel that way, and maybe even righties. To me, I think he is the knock out guy that you have to have in the ninth inning…I like him in the ninth until he shows he can’t do it.”