ARLINGTON, Texas — Rick Renteria said prior to Friday’s game against the Texas Rangers that the White Sox didn’t believe the right side soreness that forced Reynaldo Lopez out of Thursday’s game early was anything series. But nonetheless, the White Sox placed the young righty on the 10-day disabled list, calling up veteran Danny Farquhar to take his place on the 25-man roster.
“(He) woke up a little sore. But he’s icing,” Renteria said. “We don’t think it’s anything significant. I’m sure we’ll be very cautious with him and we’ll see.”
The injury may very well not be serious, but the White Sox have every right to be cautious, particularly given how the injury was discovered. Lopez being a healthy and effective starter is much more important to the White Sox in 2018, 2019, and beyond than it is in August 2017. So while it’s unfortunate that we won’t be able to see Lopez pitch for at least the next 10 days, everything about this decision makes sense.
Farquhar is one of the veteran relievers plying their trade in Triple-A as insurance for this exact kind of thing. The 30-year-old right-hander threw 35 innings with the Tampa Bay Rays this season before being released on July 20. The White Sox signed him four days later and he’s tossed nine innings of relief in Triple-A Charlotte prior to this promotion.
While one young starting pitcher acquired for Adam Eaton goes to the disabled list, another young starting pitcher acquired for Adam Eaton heads to Chicago.
Lucas Giolito will make his White Sox debut Monday, starting one of the games in a doubleheader against the Minnesota Twins. The former No. 1 prospect in baseball struggled at times this season in Triple-A Charlotte as the White Sox tinkered with his mechanics. But he’s appeared to turn a corner over the last several starts.
“He’s a good arm acquired in a big trade,” pitching coach Don Cooper said. In Spring Training, we saw the good arm. We were looking for more strikes and obviously he’s throwing more and more strikes and he’s earned that. I did happen to see him on TV the other night. He looked calm, collected and was dropping all of his stuff in there for strikes which is the first prerequisite to come here. You gotta be able to throw it over. He’s earned his way up. The rebuilding process continues with (Aaron) Bummer coming here, with Lopez coming here and now Giolito.”
The White Sox are afforded the opportunity to give Giolito a shot without committing, at least publicly, to keeping him up, as he’ll serve as the 26th man for the doubleheader. Renteria wouldn’t say whether or not Giolito will remain with the team beyond that start, but given the fact that roster expansions are two weeks away, even if he’s sent back down, you’d have to imagine he’ll be back in September.
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