Pregame notes: Pitching chaos

A.J. Hinch finished third place in American League manager of the year voting last season--and proceeded to knock the winner out of the playoffs--while deploying a pitching strategy that only had minor variations from being Tarik Skubal and 12 relievers.

The White Sox will do their best to emulate that model this week, save for the Skubal part. Monday's pitching plan is Elvis Peguero opening for bulk boy Tyler Alexander, and Tuesday's plan is a mystery box. There could be anything inside that mystery box, maybe even a boat.

"TBA tomorrow, we'll see how we're doing, then we plan on Shane Smith Wednesday," said Will Venable, trying to shift the focus to the questions he is able to answer, to middling success. "There's gonna be a couple different options. We're probably gonna need contributions from multiple guys. But again, how today shakes out will impact tomorrow."

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Drew Thorpe has been with the team for the last few series as he continues his rehab process from Tommy John surgery. With all due respect to the bonds he's formed with Ky Bush and Mason Adams as they also rehab from the same procedure, it does seem like putting Thorpe around his teammates is as much about keeping him from going insane in Arizona as it is about checking on his progress.

"It’s kind of miserable to go outside right now, a lot of video games and that’s about it," Thorpe said about the wonders of the Phoenix valley in August. "It is difficult. Obviously it’s a long process but just having those milestones, you hit the three months and six months and once you get something new, it’s kind of exciting. As you go on, you get something else new and look forward to that."

The timing of Thorpe surgery ("a gut punch" he says, as well as "it sucked") is such that he's roughly targeting a return to the active roster by next June or July, as even something like next All-Star break would be in line with how quickly Davis Martin came back from his TJ process.

Right now, Thorpe is still just beginning a lifting program to add strength so that when he returns to throwing in mid-October, his body will be able to handle a steady ramp-up in intensity. The baked-in risk of any major surgery and the 15-month rehab process does a lot to explain why every other medical option tends to get exhausted before pitchers go under the knife, but Thorpe also still laments how good he felt after his cortisone shot in January and building up in spring before blowing out.

Still, every interview with Thorpe in 2024 contained some acknowledgement that things weren't perfect for him mechanically--even as he dominated Double-A hitters or his promising five-start streak of six innings or more, two runs or less in Chicago before things turned south--and he remains optimistic that this will afford him an opportunity reset his delivery.

"Taking almost six, seven months off of throwing, new elbow, It’s not like starting over but in a sense it is starting over," Thorpe said. "You pattern those things as you are building up mechanically kind of where I want to be, what positions I want to be into and just throughout the whole process taking that into lifting. Being able to get into those positions and after I start throwing just patterning those right away so I’ll be ready once I get off the mound."

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Miguel Vargas took batting practice on Monday and his left oblique felt well enough that a return without a rehab assignment is now being weighed as a possibility. Everyone hopes they caught their injury early, but maybe Vargas and hitting coach Marcus Thames actually did.

"Responded really well right away, he did a good job being proactive and communicating with the medical staff," Venable said. "Good job of Marcus, too, of catching it before he really did something bad. Hopefully that’s the case and his progress is real and get back there soon."

Chase Meidroth also took some batting practice on Monday but sounds like he's still dealing with some soreness in his bruised right thumb.

Martín Pérez's next bullpen session should be before the team leaves town this weekend for Kansas City, and mapping out his return to the active roster could follow from there.

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Brooks Baldwin was subbed out for Michael A. Taylor as a defensive replacement on Sunday, at the end of an 0-for-3 day with dropped fly ball in left field. Venable toed the line between making it clear that Baldwin's misplay represented an unacceptable level of focus, and disputing that he was pulled as punishment.

"You’ve got to go out there and do your job and there’s expectations for performance and your ability to get the job done," Venable said. "This is the big leagues. You’ve got to be able to go out and do it. In the case of yesterday, Brooksie, never a question of his intent or his work ethic or effort. Just in some situations sometimes where we have better defenders and we’re in a spot where we want to prioritize defense, and that was the case yesterday. At the same time, I think it’s fair with Brooksie, was direct with him, that we have to continue to improve out there at third base and the outfield. There are things he can work on to improve, and continue to build that trust with myself and the staff."

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Gus Varland is still a real person, but he's now a member of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He hadn't pitched since the end of June and was on the IL with the Charlotte Knights with a lat strain when the White Sox released him last week.

What's notable about the Diamondbacks claiming Varland off waivers and optioning him to their Triple-A affiliate is that they designated old friend Kendall Graveman to make room on their 40-man roster to do it.

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Speaking of old friends, Codi Heuer is back in the majors and back at Rate Field for the first time since 2021. Between TJ and a fracture in his elbow, Heuer was rehabbing for over three years. He was with the Cubs for part of the '21 Crosstown series, so this is not his first time back at his old stomping grounds in a new uniform, but is still going through the shock of how few familiar faces there are across the diamond.

First pitch: White Sox vs. Tigers

TV: CHSN

Radio: ESPN 1000 AM, WRTO 1200 AM (Spanish)

Lineups: