TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Statcast: https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/preview?game_pk=746330&game_date=2024-4-7
Lineups
| White Sox | Royals | |
|---|---|---|
| Robbie Grossman, RF | 1 | Maikel Garcia, 3B |
| Yoán Moncada, 3B | 2 | Bobby Witt Jr., SS |
| Gavin Sheets, 1B | 3 | Nick Loftin, 2B |
| Andrew Vaughn, DH | 4 | Salvador Perez, 1B |
| Andrew Benintendi, LF | 5 | Nelson Velázquez, LF |
| Dominic Fletcher, CF | 6 | MJ Melendez, DH |
| Braden Shewmake, SS | 7 | Hunter Renfroe, RF |
| Nicky Lopez, 2B | 8 | Freddy Fermin, C |
| Martin Maldonado, C | 9 | Garrett Hampson, CF |
| Garrett Crochet | SP | Alec Marsh |
Pregame Notes from James Fegan
-- Robbie Grossman has yet to reach base in a White Sox uniform, but Andrew Benintendi's 3-for-32 start to the year encouraged some shuffling of the lineup that Pedro Grifol has begun steadily acknowledging is in a funk. It's hard to imagine a more forceful public advocate of Benintendi than Grifol, who termed the switch as rooted in placing his left fielder in more RBI situations.
"These guys have been around for a little bit," Grifol said. "They know how to hit. Benny is a hitter man, he’s hit. Vaughn is a hitter, he’s hit. YoYo has done his thing. We lost Eloy, we lost Robert, those are blows. So these guys, they’ve hit man. Just not right now. A part of it is if we were going through this thing in August the term would be, well, everyone goes through it. We’re just going through it now in April. We have to find a way to get through it. There's no excuse."
-- Eloy Jiménez was in a good mood after being able to do some running pregame as he works back from his adductor strain. Grifol had no real update on his timeline, but said the DH is improving. He was similarly limited in his progress update for John Brebbia, but it did sound like the right-handed reliever will not be available out of the bullpen Sunday.
-- Grifol was mum pregame on the expected starting pitcher for Monday in Cleveland. Nick Nastrini would be lined up based on his last start at Triple-A Charlotte but Grifol said it would not be ideal to have the rookie right-hander make his debut before he's fully ramped up. Nastrini threw three shaky innings on 70 pitches on Wednesday. Jared Shuster is already on the 40-man roster and did not make a start this week at Charlotte, though his Knights' debut went worse than Nastrini's.
--While he prefaced his answer with a long explanation of how he doesn't like making strict starter-catcher pairings, Grifol made it sound like Garrett Crochet and Martín Maldonado are a package deal for now.
"I’m aware that we have to continue to develop Lee and get him in there, plus he’s a good player. I’m aware of that. I just want to make sure nothing changes for Crochet and he goes out there and has every opportunity to do what he’s doing. Maldy does a really good job of preparing himself and knowing these guys."
