Miguel Vargas is getting a breather, but only in the loosest sense of the word.
Will Venable said the White Sox plan to give Vargas a day off, though with the way this club likes to work the bench, it may not last long if a left-handed Reds reliever enters the game.
“It’s one of those," Venable conceded with a laugh. "It’s not going to be a full off day."
That kind of managed rest figures to be a theme down the stretch, especially for regulars like Vargas as the White Sox push through the final stretch of a close divisional race.
“Especially a guy like Vargas, who is one of our best players in there every single day, you gotta take care of him,” Venable said. “I know we just had an off day but getting a couple of these guys a couple of days off here as we get into the stretch.
It might jut be one more for some of these guys in September. We got a long way to go here.”
Chase Meidroth is also in the lineup despite wearing a brace on his sore left wrist, and he’s at shortstop. Venable said the brace is precautionary and that Meidroth’s wrist is expected to function fine.
“There will be some pain that he has to deal with, but I think structurally, and as far as the function of his wrist, you anticipate that he's fine,” Venable said. “The brace is more precautionary, and if it adds to his ability to navigate through a game, then great.”
Kyle Teel’s recovery from a sprained left ankle continues to trend in the right direction. He’s been out of his walking boot and has been able to run on the ankle for the past two days, which lines up with Chris Getz’s suggestion that he could return around the start of September.
Venable said Teel is making steady progress.
“He’s progressing really well,” said Venable He’s running for the first time yesterday. I think he got about 80 percent of his speed.
Hitting, ramping up hitting today, dry swings yesterday and ramping up hitting today. You would like to think one week from now, as far as hitting goes, he’s kind of full-go [for] hitting.
Behind that will be the defensive stuff, more the running stuff. More of the non-hitting stuff.
And so, you hope he progresses to a point where again, without putting a firm timeline, at the end of the month around then he’s looking at a rehab assignment. Again, I don’t think that’s too premature but that’s also leaving some room for a week on either side."
Luis Castillo gets the ball for this one, and with Grant Taylor having been used for two innings on Tuesday, the White Sox won’t have their top leverage arm available. That leaves the door open for Jordan Hicks, Huascar Brazobán, Tanner McDougal, or single innings from Bryan Hudson, Sean Newcomb, and maybe Hagen Smith, though the Sox would prefer Castillo do what he was brought in to do.
“In general, as we look at Luis Castillo and what he means for us, that’s going to be his job; to eat up some innings, quality innings,” Venable said. “[He's] a guy who has done it for a long time and you can trust him to navigate lineups and pitch deep into games.”
The Tigers also made a roster move, placing All-Star outfielder Riley Greene on the injured list with a right hamstring strain. Corey Julks was added in his place.
The White Sox are listed as TBA for Friday’s starter in Detroit, while Anthony Kay and Sean Burke are set to pitch Saturday and Sunday.
First pitch for White Sox-Reds is set for today.
TV: CHSN
Radio: ESPN 1000 AM
Lineups:
Reds: Elly De La Cruz, SS; Sal Stewart, DH; JJ Bleday, LF; Eugenio Suárez, 3B; Michael Toglia, 1B; Héctor Rodríguez, RF; Jose Trevino, C; TJ Friedl, CF; Matt McLain, 2B; Rhett Lowder, SP
White Sox: Sam Antonacci, 2B; Munetaka Murakami, 1B; Andrew Benintendi, DH; Braden Montgomery, RF; Colson Montgomery, 3B; Chase Meidroth, SS; Tristan Peters, LF; Brenton Doyle, CF; Drew Romo, C; Luis Castillo, SP
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