Chicago White Sox aim to ‘get guys in the best spots’ with rotation tweaks heading into the stretch

Sunday served as another sign of the progress the Chicago White Sox have made this season.

Their series finale against the Minnesota Twins at Rate Field was originally scheduled to start at 1:10 p.m. But it was flexed to a Sunday evening slot following a late July announcement to showcase the club in front of a national television audience.

"It's really cool," manager Will Venable said before the game. "People want to watch us play, and for good reason. The way these guys go out and handle their business, we have a bunch of young, exciting players and guys that are playing well and doing their jobs well, and doing it with definitely a distinct attitude.

The Sox made some adjustments to their pitching rotation in the days leading up to the contest, pushing Sean Burke's start from Sunday to Tuesday. They went with Bryan Hudson as an opener against the Twins as part of a bullpen game.

Venable said on Saturday that a "few different things" factored into the rotation tweaks.

"Just the off day (on Monday), have a chance to line some things up," Venable said. "And as we're looking ahead, trying to get guys in the best spots, there's some implications with rest, there's some implications with matchups.

"So just on the whole, as we evaluate all those things and have the off day to kind of change some things up, we went ahead and did it."

Burke and Davis Martin are scheduled to pitch Tuesday and Wednesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Rate Field. The starter for Thursday's series finale is to be announced.

Asked on Saturday if the Sept. 14-16 series at Cleveland was part of the decision, Venable said, "You could look at a lot of different things. That's way down the road. We've got a lot going on before that. It's really what it means mostly up front here to rest some guys."

The Sox have a two-game lead over the Guardians in the American League Central entering Sunday evening. The Guardians defeated the Detroit Tigers 3-2 in 10 innings on Sunday afternoon, their third walk-off win of the series.

After Sunday, the Sox will have 19 games remaining in the regular season. How the starting pitching performs will play a pivotal role in which team finishes first in the division.

"We are welcoming starters going out there and going deeper in games because it does reset the bullpen, but if that's not the case, then we'll continue to stay creative and find guys who cover innings and give us quality innings in the bullpen as well," general manager Chris Getz said on Friday.

Luis Castillo is among those starters working on adjustments. The right-hander has a 7.52 ERA in six starts since being acquired in a trade with the Seattle Mariners on Aug. 1 .

"I do think that when players come over in trades, it's a transition," Getz said. "Sometimes, players carry a little too much and carry the burden of trying to justify a trade and winning teammates over, and a manager over and coaches over, fans and media. That's just part of the transition. There's probably a little bit of that. Now, just mechanically, he did make some strides ( Thursday against the Houston Astros ). He did. There were some lower-half mechanics they were working on and that seemed to be in a much better place. The upper half, the shoulders, seem to be flying open a little bit more than it had in the past. I think the pitch shapes were trending in the right direction. The velocity was affected a little bit.

"He's not exactly where we want him to be or showing what he's capable of doing, but that doesn't mean we don't continue to work. That's kind of the beauty of what we do and what we've done. We'll continue to do so, find ways to solve for problems and issues and make adjustments. Davis Martin and Sean Burke are great examples of that. We hope to be able to apply that for Castillo and get him back on track."

Sox place outfielder Tommy Pham on the IL

The Sox placed recently acquired outfielder Tommy Pham on the 10-day injured list with a left calf strain. The move is retroactive to Thursday.

The Sox acquired Pham in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies on Aug. 31. He has appeared in one game, going 0-for-1.

Venable said the injury occurred during defensive work on Saturday.

"He was working out on the field, felt something on his calf that grabbed on him," Venable said. "Was significant enough that we had to put him on the IL."

In the corresponding move, the Sox recalled catcher Edgar Quero from Triple-A Charlotte.

"As you look at Tommy, his role was really right-handed bat against lefties and in certain spots," Venable said. "And as we evaluated the options, felt very confident that Quero is the next best guy to fill that void."