Pregame notes: A divisional battle of teams winging it in their rotation

David Sandlin has been called up (Joe Rock was optioned) to start for the White Sox Friday night at the open of a three-game set against the Royals.

A productive Triple-A arm (1.57 ERA in 23 innings with Charlotte) with major league experience is a nice, traditional solution to a hole in the major league rotation. But Sandlin was sent down after his previous three-start audition for pretty inarguable performance struggles (8.10 ERA), and being lined up against Noah Schultz having a third rehab start with the Knights on this same Friday, while Will Venable openly acknowledged that Mason Adams is also a future option for the rotation, gives the air of an audition. Venable downplayed the precariousness of Sandlin's perch with sort of a "we're all day-to-day when you think about it" explanation.

"The way we go about all these rotation cycles is just take it one at a time," Venable said. "He’s in there right now. There’ll be potentially different needs next time. We don’t ever really look that far ahead. It’s really about here and now, which we’re excited about. After this one, we’ll see where we’re at.”

I don't want to fashion myself as a Venable whisperer--unless it gets you to subscribe--but I do find myself enjoying that the former outfielder doesn't offer the pretension of evaluating his pitchers by some hyper-granular means. That's Zach Bove's job. If you ask Venable the key to success for one of his pitchers, he will inevitably offer some brand of "throw strikes."

"A big thing for him is offspeed stuff in the zone," Venable said of Sandlin. "He’s aggressive with the fastball, but he’s got to protect that fastball with offspeed stuff. When he’s able to land it in the zone and keep hitters having to solve for multiple types of pitches, it puts him in a good spot. When he’s not throwing in the zone, it makes it tough. So he’s going to have to throw strikes with offspeed stuff."

Maybe it will make it easier for Sandlin that instead of facing a top-10 offense (strangely, this refers to the Twins) or an offense that features Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper at the top, he will be battling a Royals club that will be missing Maikel Garcia, Vinnie Pasquantino, Jonathan India, Kyle Isbel due to injuries, but also just got Bobby Witt Jr. back from an MCL sprain.

Additionally, the Royals just lost scheduled starter Stephen Kolek to the paternity list, and now will have a weird bullpen game where righty reliever Steven Cruz is expected to open for the newly recalled Mitch Spence, also a righty, as the likely bulk option.

"We really didn’t feel like we needed to make any adjustments," Venable said of his lineup. "So we went about our business and structured our lineup versus a right-handed starter. Hopefully, that’s what we get. They could pop a lefty behind Cruz so we’ll see."

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Munetaka Murakami took batting practice on the field on Friday, which feels like a meaningful step in his progression, even if the Sox aren't providing a timeline behind it. Venable did mention that Murakami's hitting progression is ahead of his running, and he's running at about 85 percent intensity.

Are you so desperate for Murakami content that you would watch grainy phone video from hundreds of feet away of him running at 85 percent intensity? Really? Seriously, get a gri--OK, here it is:

Venable sounds like he thinks Murakami should go out on a rehab assignment with Triple-A Charlotte, and also that it clearly hasn't been decided upon yet.

"A long layoff like that, I think potential for a rehab assignment is appropriate," Venable said. "No decision has been made. Kind of see where he’s at, see how this thing goes and certainly the longer it goes, the more incentive there is for a rehab assignment. At the same time, with Trajekt and all the things he can do to prepare outside of a rehab game, feel like he could also be ready to go with a different path. We’ll see when we get there."

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The White Sox are holding a moment of silence at 6:27 pm for victims of Wednesday's earthquakes in Venezuela.

The Sox are also hosting a pre-game "Home Run for Life" for a four-year-old named Melanie who is undergoing treatment for medulloblastoma, and is going to round the bases and receive high-fives from players and coaches. Personally, I've only really witnessed minor league teams do this postgame, and am not sure how this will work here. But Melanie was in the clubhouse pregame and got a hug from Colson Montgomery, so that's nice.

Maybe they have to do it pregame because of the postgame Marshmello concert. The only thing that will be louder than the bass drops postgame will be the relentless whining of my beloved and respected colleagues.

First pitch: White Sox vs. Royals

TV: CHSN

Radio: ESPN 1000 AM, 107.9 FM La Ley (Spanish)

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