After spending the weekend getting pasted by the Houston Astros, the White Sox pitching staff fell into further disarray today. The Sox placed Miguel Gonzalez on the 10-day disabled list with right rotator cuff inflammation, and called up Chris Beck from Triple-A to take his place. To make room, they moved Danny Farquhar to the 60-day disabled list as he battles with his brain aneurysm.
Gonzalez looked like he was pitching hurt, as he failed to crack 90 mph with his fastball during his last start, and past dips in his velocity have often been connected to shoulder woes. Here's your regular reminder to trust the writing on the wall:
Renteria was asked about González’s standing in the rotation. It doesn’t sound like he’s thinking about any sort of change nor skipping his turn
— James Fegan (@JRFegan) April 18, 2018
Carson Fulmer is going to start today's game on regular rest rotation-wise, although he made a 24-pitch bullpen appearance on his side day. He was encouraged by his ability to throw strikes with life. James Fegan says Fulmer usually doesn't lean on mechanical tweaks as talking points, but that's not necessarily encouraging if consistent mechanics have always been his issue.
Credit Chris Beck for punching his way back up to the big leagues after being outrighted over the winter. By some measures, he's been the worst White Sox reliever to pitch as much as he has. He has a 6.38 ERA over 83 games, which is good for a 67 ERA+. Only Ronald Belisario is in his neighborhood, posting a 68 ERA+ (5.56 ERA), but over 21 fewer games.
And even then:
- Beck: 6.28 FIP
- Belisario: 3.54 FIP
But hey, he's pitched well in Charlotte, holding opponents to just four hits and three walks over nine innings while striking out 13. That last stat is notable, because Beck has never been one for racking up strikeouts in the minors, even over small samples. Perhaps it'll all come crashing to an end, but he got somebody's attention for the time being.
Beck has been used as a three-inning starter in the two weeks since the Sox called up Chris Volstad, and he's was the scheduled starter for Tuesday. He can start a bullpen day, or can participate in one behind Volstad or Hector Santiago as the Sox sort out subsequent starts.
To take Beck's place, the White Sox promoted 29-year-old Matt Tomshaw from Birmingham. That's notable because he occupied one of the five rotation spots for the Barons, and now theoretically there's an opportunity for Dane Dunning to finally make the jump from Winston-Salem. For the time being, the Barons added Jake Johansen from Charlotte's disabled list, but Johansen hasn't started a game since 2014.
As for Farquhar, it became clear that the 60-day disabled list was in his future after reading Bob Nightengale's story. He said Farquhar will remain in the hospital under the watch of neurosurgeons for at least the next three weeks.
[Farquhar] underwent an additional complicated surgery Saturday night to relieve swelling around the brain and remained Sunday in the ICU unit at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. He’s in critical, but stable condition.
“He’s a fighter, and he’s in the fight of his life right now,’’ Chicago White Sox vice president Ken Williams said. “They had to do another surgery, cracking his skull open, and putting a clamp on it. My God. [...]
“His wife and mother were at the game that night, and by the time they got to the clubhouse, he was already in an ambulance heading to the hospital. Can you imagine what they went through, and are still going through?’’
Regarding Farquhar, I wrote about Justin Verlander barking at Tim Anderson an inning before Farquhar collapsed for my Monday column at The Athletic. A very personal tragedy shaped Anderson's style, and now the White Sox are dealing with one on a team-wide scale.
