TV: NBC Sports Chicago (Benetti on MLB.tv's away feed)
Lineups:
| Tigers | White Sox | |
|---|---|---|
| Parker Meadows, CF | 1 | Andrew Benintendi, LF |
| Spencer Torkelson, 1B | 2 | Yoán Moncada, 3B |
| Riley Greene, RF | 3 | Luis Robert Jr., CF |
| Kerry Carpenter, DH | 4 | Eloy Jiménez, DH |
| Mark Canha, LF | 5 | Andrew Vaughn, 1B |
| Colt Keith, 2B | 6 | Dominic Fletcher, RF |
| Carson Kelly, C | 7 | Braden Shewmake, SS |
| Javier Báez, SS | 8 | Nicky Lopez, 2B |
| Zach McKinstry, 3B | 9 | Martín Maldonado, C |
| Kenta Maeda | SP | Michael Soroka |
Clubhouse notes from James Fegan
--Braden Shewmake has gotten reps at all four infield positions in spring, and Pedro Grifol lauded his basestealing ability (he was 27-for-28 with Triple-A Gwinnett last season). While he didn't want to dive too much into the subtext that this year's roster contains fewer established everyday position players than last year's, Grifol said he wants Shewmake to have a regular role.
"I just want to stick with our philosophy, which is make sure our bench players are staying sharp so they can impact the baseball game when they come off the bench, or if a player comes up with an injury that’s going to take a day or two, these guys are ready to play as opposed to having to come in and get into the rhythm of the game. I’m going to play these guys. I’m going to rotate these guys around.”
--In that vein, Gavin Sheets sounds like the pinch hitter/lefty bench bat du jour.
“He’s got power, which is something you always need a lot late in the game. He’s got extra-base ability. We’ll see what leverage comes our way and where we are in the lineup, and I wouldn’t hesitate to pop him in one of those leverage situations.”
--Thursday's pairing where starter Garrett Crochet (towering lefty with elite extension) was immediately followed by reliever Deivi García (short right-hander who dips in his delivery to the point of creating an almost uphill plane) was intentional, to the point of being plotted out weeks in advance.
"You want to pair the wine with the cheese," said Brian Bannister.
