Pregame notes: Dan Altavilla’s wild ride

Just when Dan Altavilla opts out, he opts back in.

For the second time this season, Altavilla re-signed with the White Sox after opting out of a minor league deal. The first time was at the end of spring training, when he triggered an out clause on his non-roster invitation on March 25 after a decent Cactus League performance. Five days later, he re-signed with the Sox and headed to the Charlotte Knights bullpen.

The 32-year-old righty was then granted his release from the White Sox for a second time on Saturday after 20 games with Charlotte that were superficially impressive, at the very least. He posted a 2.49 ERA over 21⅔ innings, including an active streak of 11 scoreless appearances dating back to April 24 (11.2 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 9 K).

All of the transaction hassles appeared to be worth it, as Altavilla returned on a one-year, $1 million major league deal, taking the place of Miguel Castro, who is out for the year after tearing the patellar tendon in his right knee on the penultimate out of Wednesday's victory over the Mets. He is scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery on Tuesday.

Altavilla brings 124 games of major league experience to the bullpen, although he topped out at 41 games back in 2017. It's been a grind ever since, with multiple season-shortening flexor strains before the pandemic, then Tommy John surgery in 2021. He returned to the big leagues for five unsuccessful appearances with the Royals, but he regained his old velocity then and has it now, sitting 96-97 mph.

The White Sox's 40-man roster is back to full, as trading Matt Thaiss to Tampa Bay for Dru Baker opened a spot.

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Two additional notes that explain why today's schedule doesn't jibe with the previously announced plans:

No. 1: Today's game moved from 6:05 p.m. CT to 3:30 p.m. CT to work around an ugly evening forecast.

No. 2: Jared Shuster will serve as the opener, with Sean Burke following.

First Pitch: White Sox at Orioles

TV: CHSN

Lineups: