Lucy's fortunes take positive turn

Donny Lucy has started just one of the White Sox' first nine games this season, but his role doesn't really matter.

Breaking training camp as the No. 2 catcher behind A.J. Pierzynski after Ramon Castro (bruised right heel) landed on the disabled list, Lucy really means it when he says he's "just happy to be here."

"It's awesome," said Lucy, the Sox' second-round draft pick in 2004. "I know it's because Castro went down but at the same time, there were other guys in camp they could have picked."

Lucy was on the White Sox' radar in 2007, when he was called up from Class AAA Charlotte in September and appeared in eight games.

Back at Triple-A in 2008, Lucy was batting during a rainy game at Buffalo early in the season when his career nearly ended.

"It was all muddy in the batter's box and as I was going to swing, my cleat got caught," Lucy said. "I dislocated the knee cap and basically blew everything else out. It was really bad."

Lucy missed the rest of that season and played in just 65 combined games with AA Birmingham and Charlotte last year, batting .216.

"I just kept working really hard on and off the field," Lucy said. "But after last year, the Sox could have cut ties with me. I've been in the minor leagues here for six years, so you see that happen a lot. But they stuck with me and I got lucky."

Around the minors: Daniel Hudson, the White Sox' top pitching prospect, made his first start of the season for Class AAA Charlotte on Tuesday and picked up the win after pitching 52/3 innings and allowing 1 run on 3 hits.

Hudson, a 23-year-old right-hander, had 9 strikeouts and issued 1 walk against Norfolk.

Also for Charlotte, infielder Brent Lillibridge is batting .385 (8-for-21) after going 0-for-4 in Wednesday night's loss to Norfolk. Catcher Tyler Flowers is batting .368 (7-for-19) with 1 home run and 6 RBI.

Changing Sox: Santo Luis, a relief pitcher in the White Sox' minor-league system, was claimed off waivers by the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday. Luis was 5-4 with a 4.34 ERA and 14 saves with Class A Winston-Salem last season.