On Monday, Pedro Grifol said Dominic Fletcher "has to wait for an opportunity" to crack the White Sox's outfield rotation.
On Tuesday, Eloy Jiménez once again pulled up in discomfort running the bases, this time between third and home during the White Sox's 5-0 victory over the Blue Jays at Rogers Centre.
Wednesday night, Fletcher will start in center field as the White Sox attempt to take two of three in Toronto.
The White Sox placed Jiménez on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring among four roster moves today, and while that once again deprives the Sox of one of their most intriguing bats, his absence is the easiest way to correct an outfield that's frequently defensively overmatched when everybody is healthy.
With Jiménez out, Gavin Sheets can shift to the primary option at DH (although Grifol chose differently today, as we'll soon discuss). That puts Tommy Pham in a more natural position of right field while Fletcher mans center, and that's about as good as it's going to get until Luis Robert Jr. returns. Fletcher hasn't yet provided reason to feel particularly excited about his plate appearances, but there's value in building up his body of work, no matter which direction it takes.
Zach DeLoach gets a look
While Fletcher takes Jiménez's spot in the everyday (or most-day) lineup, Zach DeLoach takes Jiménez's spot on the 26-man roster.
DeLoach, who was acquired by the White Sox over the winter in the Gregory Santos trade, hasn't quite earned this call-up. He's hitting .263/.358/.343 with Charlotte, which represents improvement in one regard (he's slashed his strikeout rate by five points to a playable 22.6 percent), but a major step back in another (he's only homered twice after 23 with Triple-A Tacoma last season).
That said, with Bryan Ramos rehabbing in Charlotte, the only healthy position player option on the 40-man roster is Braden Shewmake, so the White Sox chose the more intriguing option. For the time being, "DeLoach" is French for "DeFault," and he'll make his DeBut in right field tonight, as the White Sox will attempt to take advantage of Chris Bassitt's significant platoon splits:
- Bassitt vs. LHB: .294/.390/.541
- Bassitt vs. RHB: .260/.333/.310
Sheets will play first base and Pham will DH, with Andrew Vaughn, currently mired in an 0-for-16 slump, getting the night off.
Nick Nastrini starting, Steven Wilson to IL
Had I known that the White Sox were willing to bump Mike Clevinger's start back to Thursday, I wouldn't have been as bullish about a Drew Thorpe promotion for Thursday's opener against Baltimore. Still, you can get your Thorpe fix below if you support Sox Machine on Patreon.
PATREON EXCLUSIVE: Drew Thorpe is still in Double-A, but has a mindset built for the next step
The White Sox are instead accommodating Nick Nastrini, who will take the mound against Toronto tonight in his second crack at claiming a five-man rotation spot. On paper, it's a lighter assignment than facing the Orioles, although Garrett Crochet made it look easier than Erick Fedde.
Nastrini has thrown six innings in each of his three May starts, which is a general indication that he's throwing enough strikes. He's also given up five homers over those 18⅔ innings to temper enthusiasm, although sometimes that's just the price of being aggressive in Charlotte.
Nastrini will take the roster spot of Steven Wilson, who headed to the 15-day IL with a back strain. Wilson's walked eight batters over 6⅓ innings, leading to an impressive, untenable divide between his ERA (2.84) and his FIP (6.25) we'll call the Inverted Bummer. The time off could help Wilson to get right, or merely delay a reckoning.
