The White Sox are debuting their new city connect jerseys. Will the comments fill up with arguments about piping and stitching instead of discussion of Jonathan Cannon's changeup command? Probably, but as discussed, this is the safe outlet to discuss fashion that so many of you need.
"They're awesome, different," said Will Venable. "And it's always cool to throw something different on."
Hard agree. I throw something different on almost every day. Probably will again tomorrow.
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Martín Pérez spoke to media for the first time since being placed on the 60-day injured list for a left flexor strain. At the moment, he seems like someone adamantly opposed to this being considered a season-ending injury.
"No, we're just going to slow down," Pérez said when asked if being shut down for the season was a consideration. "It's not normal, what happened with my flexor. If it happens again, I'm maybe going to get surgery and maybe I'm going to see you guys at home. I don't want that."
Pérez said his timeline for a return to action is "at least two or three months, 10 to 12 weeks," and that he previously hadn't dealt with any elbow issues since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2014. Despite his relatively clean run of elbow health, Pérez cautioned "I'm not 21, I'm 34," and that his rehab will have to be a slow build to avoid a setback that would nix his season.
He's at least hoping to keep making an impact while off the field.
"I will always have in mind every day when I come here, 'What am I going to do after I finish with my workout that day?' I'm going to try to be in the bullpen, talking with the guys, talking with the starters, trying to tell them something so they can get better, that can help them to be a better person or a better player," Pérez said. "I don't feel that I'm a leader. I just feel that I'm that guy that I'm going to be there for my teammates when they need me. I just want them to see me as an example. 'I got hurt, but I'm still working, I still come here to support you guys and support my teammates.'"
"Something Martín and I talk about a decent bit is focusing on how you're attacking guys, rather than thinking about 'how's my stuff? I hope it's this'" said Fraser Ellard. "I'm going to think about this guy's holes and attack his weaknesses, and try to have that attack mode constantly."
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Korey Lee (left ankle sprain) was taking batting practice and running on Friday, and even put on his catching gear and participated some defensive drills. Will Venable said Lee's lateral movement is still limited, but also that he's "days away" from beginning a rehab assignment.
Of course, there's a decent chance Lee gets optioned to Charlotte when his rehab assignment is over.
Speaking of Charlotte, Brandon Drury hasn't played there since taking a curveball to his left wrist/hand area on April 26, but Chris Getz said his X-rays were negative.
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Prepare for aggression.
"We’ve just got to be aggressive, really in all areas," Venable said. "[The Astros] are a really aggressive team, too. And when you face teams like that, you really have to work hard to match their aggression. And so that's what we're talking about with our players, and that's really what we talk about all the time is, with pitchers being aggressive in the zone, hitters being aggressive at the plate and base runners being aggressive. This is a good series to go out there and do that."
First pitch: White Sox vs. Astros
TV: CHSN
Radio: ESPN 1000 AM, WTRO 1200 AM (Spanish)
Lineups:
Astros | White Sox | |
---|---|---|
Jeremy Peña, SS | 1 | Chase Meidroth, SS |
José Altuve, LF | 2 | Luis Robert Jr., CF |
Yordan Alvarez, DH | 3 | Miguel Vargas, 3B |
Isaac Paredes, 3B | 4 | Edgar Quero, C |
Christian Walker, 1B | 5 | Andrew Vaughn, DH |
Yainer Díaz, C | 6 | Lenyn Sosa, 2B |
Brendan Rodgers, 2B | 7 | Bobby Dalbec, 1B |
Cam Smith, RF | 8 | Brooks Baldwin, LF |
Jake Meyers, CF | 9 | Michael A. Taylor, CF |
Framber Valdez | SP | Jonathan Cannon |