For White Sox’ Danks, being on DL for first time ‘stinks’
Radio broadcaster Ed Farmer walked up to John Danks in the White Sox’ clubhouse following Saturday’s interleague win and poked the starting pitcher near his injury.
“Oblique?” Farmer asked.
Danks nodded.
“Two weeks,” Farmer said.
It looks like Farmer guessed about right.
Even though Danks said he was feeling much better Sunday, a day after being forced to exit the game with two outs in the second inning, he landed on the 15-day disabled list.
To fill his spot on the 25-man roster, the Sox purchased the contract of left-hander Hector Santiago from Class AA Birmingham.
Danks has never been on the DL before. The question now is how quickly he makes it back to the rotation after the all-star break.
“It kind of stinks,” Danks said. “I take a lot of pride in making all my starts and trying to throw 200 innings. It’s something I don’t think I could have avoided. It happens. So we’ll deal with it and try to come back as soon as possible.”
The new guy:With John Danks disabled, the White Sox are back to five starters.That means Hector Santiago, up from Class AA Birmingham, likely will pitch long relief out of the bullpen.Santiago, 23, began his pro career as a reliever but became a starter this season and was a combined 6-5 with a 4.08 ERA with Class A Winston-Salem and AA Birmingham.While his numbers don#146;t stand out, Santiago started throwing a screwball this year, and the pitch has been intriguing.#147;I haven#146;t quite figured it out yet,#148; Barons catcher Josh Phegley told the Birmingham News. #147;It#146;s a pretty interesting pitch.#147;I#146;ve heard hitters ask me what it is. It#146;s like a right-handed curveball from a left-hander. The 95-96 (mph fastball) from the left side is going to be hard enough.#148;Santiago arrived about midway through Sunday#146;s game against the Washington Nationals, and he did warm up in the bullpen.#147;I got the call around 10:30 (Sunday morning),#148; Santiago said. #147;It#146;s been a little hectic trying to get to the field, packing bags, sign the contract and get to the airport within an hour for the flight.#147;I#146;m more excited. I haven#146;t been nervous yet. When I get out there, I#146;m pretty sure I#146;ll be nervous.#148;One bad pitch:White Sox starter Phil Humber didn#146;t get a slider far enough in on Washington#146;s Danny Espinosa in the seventh inning Sunday, and that was the difference in the game.Espinosa#146;s 2-run homer was all the Nationals needed to rally for a 2-1 victory, snapping the Sox#146; string of interleague series wins at 17.In another quality outing, Humber allowed the 2 runs on 3 hits over 6#8532; innings. He had a no-hitter until Jerry Hairston led off the sixth with a single.#147;Honestly, I didn#146;t feel good in the bullpen (before the game),#148; Humber said. #147;I didn#146;t feel like I had much command.#147;I was kind of spraying the ball a little bit today, and I think that#146;s probably why I was getting kind of some funny swings and some swings and misses there. It wasn#146;t that I was real sharp. I was kind of erratic and fortunately I wasn#146;t leaving too much in the middle of the plate.#148;Peavy stays on schedule:After throwing 55 pitches in his first major-league relief appearance Saturday and 104 in Wednesday night#146;s start against the Cubs, Jake Peavy still is scheduled to make his next scheduled start, Thursday at Colorado.#147;He talked to us this morning and said he wanted to pitch (Thursday); he#146;s ready to pitch that day,#148; manager Ozzie Guillen said. #147;When the pitcher says he wants it and doesn#146;t want to change anything, I#146;m going to give it to him.#148;