Nicky Lopez and Mike Tauchman battling it out in a classic western suburbs vs. northwest suburbs grudge match. Per the team, this game is expected to begin in a weather delay and start at 2:45pm CT.
If you want to get very cautiously excited about Friday's starting pitcher maybe maturing into a small, welcome surprise, please read this piece about Shane Smith and his new changeup.
If you want to remember why it's wrong to get excited about anything, the White Sox announced that both reliever Prelander Berroa and prospect right-hander Juan Carela will need Tommy John surgery. Both surgeries will be performed by Dr. Keith Meister, but likely not at the same time.
Berroa was positioned to become the Sox top high-leverage arm this season and Carela had been added to the 40-man roster in November. Instead, their eventual 60-day IL placements are two 40-man roster spots to consider when projecting which veteran non-roster invites might make the club out of spring.
Michael A. Taylor is playing for the first time in over a week after dealing with some right elbow inflammation. He's still hitless on the spring, so it's like Cactus League is starting all over for him. Korey Lee (bruised right hand) and Colson Montgomery (lower back spasm) are both expected back in game action this weekend. Some of our pets' heads are re-attaching themselves, which is terrifying in its own right.
Andrew Benintendi (right hand fracture) and Austin Slater (left oblique strain) are both still up in the air for opening day, and Oscar Colás (day-to-day with a right wrist sprain) is not currently positioned to be the beneficiary.
Suddenly the White Sox have gone camp cut crazy, though Friday's purges still don't include anyone who was making a bid to break camp with the team; certainly not Carela, who was optioned back to Double-A Birmingham. Braden Montgomery, Jacob Gonzalez, Wilfred Veras were assigned to minor league camp, as was Adam Hackenberg, ending his bid to lead the team in Cactus League home runs.
At 3-10, the White Sox are tied for the worst record in the Cactus League. But I wouldn't get too worried about spring training wins and losses. I mean, they had the worst record last spring and that didn't lead to an--(puts finger to earpiece) hold on...(presses finger tighter to earpiece, loud shouting audible from the receiver)...one second, please...
Watch: CHSN
Listen: ESPN 1000, 670 The Score (Cubs broadcast)
Lineups:
| Cubs | White Sox | |
|---|---|---|
| Vidal Bruján, SS | 1 | Chase Meidroth, SS |
| Nicky Lopez, 2B | 2 | Luis Robert Jr., CF |
| Justin Turner, 3B | 3 | Mike Tauchman, RF |
| Jacob Amaya, C | 4 | Andrew Vaughn, 1B |
| Gage Workman, LF | 5 | Miguel Vargas, 3B |
| Kevin Alcántara, CF | 6 | Josh Rojas, 2B |
| Travis Jankowski, RF | 7 | Lenyn Sosa, DH |
| James Triantos, DH | 8 | Michael A. Taylor, CF |
| Jonathan Long, 1B | 9 | Omar Narváez, C |
| Colin Rea | SP | Shane Smith |
