White Sox pitching’s untouchable start to the 2016 season has been brought back to Earth this weekend in Baltimore. They have already allowed 23 runs in this series to the AL’s best offense, and have seen John Danks stare the possible end of his run as a White Sox starter dead in the face, Mat Latos roughed up for his first bad outing of the year, Carlos Rodon‘s dynamite opening to his start turned against him, and even Matt Albers‘ scoreless streak killed.
Chris Sale has been cruising to the best season start of his career with an array of unusual approaches; tamping down his fastball, using more of a slurve and taking things easier on himself with a pitch-to-contact approach. The question is whether he can remain as successful with that setup against an offense slugging .463 as a group, one that can punish him in the zone unlike the teams he has faced before. Sale has a 1.86 ERA, but hasn’t faced an offense that is slugging even .400 so far this year, so this will a real eye-opening test of his newfound approach.
In roster news: Avisail Garcia remains out of the lineup with his tweaked right hamstring, and might not be ready even by Tuesday, creating the uneviable situation where Jerry Sands is the full-time designated hitter, even against right-handers. David Robertson is back from bereavement leave and ready to pitch, and Carlos Sanchez is starting at shortstop, and is apparently on the roster for the time being after having survived the roster cut that Robertson’s return brought.
Ubaldo Jimenez starts for the Orioles Sunday, and is sticking close to his career 4.1 BB/9 on the year, so a patient approach could pay big dividends.
White Sox Lineup
- Adam Eaton – RF
- Carlos Sanchez – SS
- Jose Abreu – 1B
- Todd Frazier – 3B
- Melky Cabrera – LF
- Brett Lawrie – 2B
- Jerry Sands – DH
- Dioner Navarro – C
- Austin Jackson – CF
SP – Chris Sale
Orioles Lineup
- Joey Rickard – RF
- Manny Machado – 3B
- Adam Jones – CF
- Mark Trumbo – DH
- Chris Davis – 1B
- J.J. Hardy – SS
- Nolan Reimold – LF
- Jonathan Schoop – 2B
- Caleb Joseph – C
SP – Ubaldo Jimenez
Today’s game is a 12:35pm CT on CSN
Lead Image Credit: Dan Hamilton // USA Today Sports Images