First Pitch: White Sox at Royals

Clubhouse Notes from James Fegan

Cognizant of how it’s being perceived externally as the same old willingness to play a man down, the White Sox indicated that Eloy Jiménez’s adductor strain had a small setback on Thursday that prompted his IL placement rather than a poorly-timed collision with reality.

"He was going good so there was an opportunity there but there wasn’t any progress," said Pedro Grifol. "There comes a point where you have to make a decision, right? We tried it for three days but so now we just slow it down and make sure he gets his seven days and get it right. Let’s just get it right, so that when he comes back we don’t go through this again."

In either case, Jiménez hasn’t played since Sunday, but a backdated placement will only be retroactive to Tuesday due to league rules. And whereas the White Sox were previously about to add infielder Lenyn Sosa to the roster as simply an extra body on the positonal side, this move happens to coincide with the first possible day the team had someone available who could replicate Jiménez’s roster function.

On just Thursday afternoon, Chris Getz said veteran switch-hitter Robbie Grossman would be ready for the majors by next week after signing too late to appear in Cactus League. Instead he was pulled midway through Thursday’s Triple-A game and is the starting right fielder Friday in Kansas City. Grossman immediately offers a platoon partner for Gavin Sheets in the DH spot while Jiménez remains out, but the real question is what his arrival means for the right field mix.

"I'm comfortable with whatever Pedro tells me to do," Grossman said Friday. "Baseball has had some funny years, going back to the last couple of years. I know what it takes to get ready myself for a major league season and I feel like I’m in a good spot right now."

Kevin Pillar’s role as the starter in right field against left-handed pitching remains unaffected, but the strong side of that platoon was slated to be Dominic Fletcher. Grifol said his obligation is to put out the best lineup, and to be reiterating that point as Fletcher sits against a right-handed starter portends an uncertain workload—at least for the moment—for a rookie outfielder who was acquired with designs of giving him the lion's share of the playing time in right.

"[He's] just a little bit of in between," hitting coach Marcus Thames said to me Friday about Fletcher (1-for-15, six strikeouts). "We've got to get him back on the fastball and stay committed to it. Sometimes as a young player you come up and get beat up a little bit and think 'Oh they're throwing me off speed,' and you get in between and forget your strengths. We've got to get him back and keep that confidence in him."

TV: NBC Sports Chicago

Statcast Data: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/preview?game_pk=746328&game_date=2024-4-5

Lineups: