After Carlos Rodón opened his second half with one gem and two slogs, the White Sox rearranged their rotation to give him eight days of rest. The results suggested it worked. He struck out 11 Cubs over five shutout innings, and his good velocity was available immediately, after two outings where his lesser fastballs were pounced upon out of the gate.
Alas, it didn't seem to fix everything. A day before he was set to start the Field of Dreams Game against the Yankees, the White Sox placed him on the 10-day injured list with left shoulder fatigue. The Sox recalled Matt Foster to take his place.
Major League Baseball won't be shorted a name-brand starter for a marquee event. Lance Lynn was supposed to start this afternoon's game against Minnesota, but he's instead bumped back for Thursday, with Reynaldo López leading a bullpen effort today.
The hope is that Rodón's shoulder is more about maintenance and workload management, but the signals are unclear:
There's this:
And then there's this:
Perhaps the White Sox are seeing how much time López can buy. He's been outstanding in his hodgepodge of appearances since returning to the White Sox, with 18 strikeouts to 12 baserunners (nine hits, three walks) over 17 innings. The 3.88 FIP and three homers allowed suggests his 1.59 ERA is lucky, but that's kind of López's game. His ability to succeed rests on his ability to bully hitters with his fastball, and his best velocity his back. He's also more confident in his slider. It still doesn't look like an amazing pitch. but "fake it 'til you make it" can be a viable strategy, especially for somebody who has talked about shortcomings with his on-mound mentality.
Rodón was on pace for 155 regular-season innings, which would be the second-highest total of his career, 10 shy of his personal best set in 2016. Given his general fragility, it wouldn't be the biggest surprise if the White Sox wanted to be proactive about getting his best form in October. It also wouldn't be a surprise if Rodón shoulder was legitimately bothering him, as he's already had surgery on it in 2017, and soreness in 2020. I suppose we'll find out which situation they're looking at by the weekend.
In other personnel news:
*Tony La Russa will miss the Field of Dreams Game for the funeral of his sister's husband in Florida.
*Yasmani Grandal will begin his rehab stint in Birmingham tonight.
*If you have better ideas about keeping White Sox players healthy, apply here.
(Photo by Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports)
