Not content to let Rikuu Nishida completely dominate the homestand, the White Sox are calling up pitching prospect David Sandlin.
A source confirmed Elijah Evans' initial report, and a corresponding move will be necessary to make room on the roster for the 25-year-old right-hander, who is likely to start upon arrival. Sandlin has a 0.75 ERA in 12 innings at Triple-A this season with 17 strikeouts to six walks, and has sat in the high-90s after having his start to the season delayed by almost a month due to back and forearm soreness.
Sandlin would be on schedule to start on Tuesday, on the heels of striking out seven in four innings of one-run ball his last time out. While his previous two outings had been limited to two innings, Sandlin recently told Sox Machine that he had been cleared for roughly five innings, 75 pitches for his last few outings, and simply been dealing with inefficiency and high pitch counts. It seems like a small inference that the White Sox are banking on him having found something in his most recent work.
While the White Sox's use of openers muddle the bulk stats of their starters, they are 18th in ERA at large. More to the point, Anthony Kay's effort on Monday afternoon broke a streak of seven-straight games without a quality start. Davis Martin is pitching at an All-Star level, and Kay has had a resurgent month of May. But rookie Noah Schultz has struggled with his control of recent, Sean Burke (originally scheduled to start Tuesday) has not completed five innings in any of his last three starts and Erick Fedde has a 10.13 ERA in the month of May.
Surprisingly, the Sox find themselves over .500 and sitting in the second American League Wild Card spot on Memorial Day. While the idea of sacrificing future resources at the trade deadline to chase contention has mostly induced squishy responses from the front office that has no reason to rush to such a decision, they do have major league-ready prospects to throw at roster issues that arise.
Sandlin looks to be the next man up, and from an aesthetic standpoint, he's a very big man who throws very hard, and there's something to be said for the visuals that will provide.
