Eloy Jiménez was in full uniform on Saturday morning to take live batting practice against reliever John Brebbia. While the level of huffing and puffing Brebbia does on the mound is striking to hear at full volume, the veteran right-hander is expected to return from his right calf strain when first eligible on April 21.
The real development is obviously Jiménez, even if progress updates on his injury recovery have become the most loathed form of content on this site for seven years and counting. Even on Friday, comments on Jiménez’s running progression were tepid. But Pedro Grifol said Jiménez “reached some numbers in running yesterday that we’re comfortable with. And now we’re taking the next step.”
That next step was live BP, but Grifol confirmed that a rehab assignment for Jiménez is now in sight. After a couple of deep fly outs (and some chopped grounders), Jiménez had a lovely game of catch with Luis Robert Jr., who is presumably trying to make sure his arm does not comically wither from atrophy while he waits for his hip to heal.
Robert will be presented with his 2023 Silver Slugger award pregame Saturday.
Grifol hinted at it on Friday, but Gavin Sheets is getting a start Saturday against left-hander Nick Lodolo, as well as Dominic Fletcher. His reasoning stopped short of declaring absolute confidence in Sheets and Fletcher against same-handed pitching.
With Garrett Crochet on the mound, Grifol said he is anticipating a low-scoring game and wants his best healthy center field option defensively in Fletcher. And Sheets’ current status as the team’s hottest hitter made Grifol reluctant to have him sit for two consecutive games and possibly fall out of rhythm offensively.
“I know this is a tough left-handed pitcher,” Grifol said. “But making his first start, we’ll see, maybe he’s not in there that long.”
Grifol was planning on using Sheets against the Reds bullpen on Friday night, but by the time Andrew Abbott was done breezing through seven innings on 103 pitches, the competitive portion of the game had concluded.
Lodolo is making his first start of the season after being delayed in spring training by whatever it means to have left calf tenosynovitis. The 26-year-old has held lefties to a .155/.241/.239 batting line in his brief major league career, whereas righties have inflicted a .281/.372/.484 line against Lodolo.
White Sox vs. Reds
TV: NBC Sports Chicago
Lineups:
| Reds | White Sox | |
|---|---|---|
| Jonathan India, DH | 1 | Robbie Grossman, LF |
| Spencer Steer, LF | 2 | Andrew Vaughn, 1B |
| Christian Encarnacion-Strand, 1B | 3 | Gavin Sheets, DH |
| Jeimer Candelario, 3B | 4 | Kevin Pillar, RF |
| Stuart Fairchild, RF | 5 | Lenyn Sosa, 3B |
| Elly De La Cruz, SS | 6 | Paul DeJong, SS |
| Santiago Espinal, 2B | 7 | Zach Remillard, 2B |
| Luke Maile, C | 8 | Dominic Fletcher, RF |
| Bubba Thompson, CF | 9 | Martín Maldonado, C |
| Nick Lodolo | SP | Garrett Crochet |
