WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Depending on whatever winds up being the official date of the White Sox trading Travis Jankowski to the Rays for cash considerations, the club has made two trades in as many days. They are now carrying three Rule 5 picks on their active roster after trading for the recently DFA'd infielder Gage Workman from the Cubs, also for cash considerations.
"It is a little bit weird," Workman said about being flipped across town. "Grateful for my time with the Cubs and good people over there. But now I’m with the White Sox and I’m excited to be here, and now I want to beat the Cubs."
Standing a lanky six-foot-four, Workman is a long-levered athlete with plus power and big-time contact issues. Workman only got 15 plate appearances with the Cubs and hit .214/.267/.286 with six strikeouts. He mostly played third base on the North Side and projects to an above-average defender there, but two early errors heavily colored the perception of his glove in the early going.
Nick Maton was designated for assignment to make room for Workman, and the most immediate plan seems to be to assume his predecessor's playing time.
"Really excited about the athlete," Venable said. "Some pop on the left side of the plate and excited to see what he can do, some defensive versatility. You could see him against some right-handed pitching. You could see him come off the bench and run. You could see him come off the bench and play defense."
Workman sounds unlikely to join the outfield mix early on.
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Tyler Gilbert has been tapped for the second-straight day to open things up and protect Jonathan Cannon from his vulnerabilities to lefties. While Lawrence Butler had a rough game on Friday that might have already prompted a day off from the leadoff spot, Venable noted the A's responding to the opener strategy with a lineup change was bound to happen.
"[Gilbert] did his job, was able to get through that first inning and put Sean [Burke] in a good spot to get his day started," Venable said. "The A's countered today with a little bit of a different lineup, so it'll be a challenge for Gilbert here on the front side, but it also then puts Cannon in a really good spot with one of the lefties not in there for him. It's just a little bit of the back and forth with this opener thing."
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Josh Rojas sounds likely to start a rehab assignment next week.
First pitch: White Sox at Athletics
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TV: CHSN
Radio: ESPN 1000 AM
Lineups:
| Athletics | White Sox | |
|---|---|---|
| Jacob Wilson, SS | 1 | Miguel Vargas, 3B |
| Brent Rooker, RF | 2 | Luis Robert Jr., CF |
| Tyler Soderstrom, DH | 3 | Edgar Quero, C |
| Miguel Andujar, LF | 4 | Andrew Vaughn, DH |
| J.J. Bleday, CF | 5 | Lenyn Sosa, 2B |
| Luis Urías, 2B | 6 | Michael A. Taylor, RF |
| Nick Kurtz, 1B | 7 | Brooks Baldwin, LF |
| Gio Urshela, 3B | 8 | Bobby Dalbec, 1B |
| Jhonny Pereda, C | 9 | Jacob Amaya, SS |
| Jeffrey Springs | SP | Tyler Gilbert |
