Williams on all-star Sale: Go for it
So, what was the major storyline when two first-place teams — the White Sox and Rangers — squared off for the first of three games Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field?
All-Star Game controversy.
Let’s begin with Chris Sale being scratched from Sunday’s scheduled start against Toronto before moving on to A.J. Pierzynski being snubbed and Jake Peavy running second in American League Final Vote balloting.
Sale, who had another dominant outing Tuesday night against Texas, was expected to start Sunday against the Blue Jays in the final game before the all-star break.
The left-hander is not going to make that start, but he will be available to pitch in Tuesday’s All-Star Game at Kansas City.
Before the Sox played the Rangers, general manager Kenny Williams talked to Texas manager Ron Washington, who is also guiding the AL all-stars.
Williams said he was going to tell Washington to limit Sale to 1 inning, meaning he almost assuredly won’t start baseball’s showcase game.
Not pitching in Sunday’s meaningful game against Toronto but being eligible for the All-Star Game is sure to upset some Sox fans. Williams explained the thinking.
“Well, whether I want to see him (in the All-Star Game) or not, it’s going to happen,” Williams said. “Fortunately, we already built in ... that we were going to give him a break at some point. We gave him a break early (in April), albeit that wasn’t a planned break. But the planning after that was virtually he pitched on a once a week schedule for the whole first half. And that was our way.
“We had him on a college rotation, something he had pitched with before. That wasn’t as taxing. Now going into the second half, we give him another break. All-Star Game or not, he was going to get it. So, All-Star Game or not, he was going to have to throw a side day right during the break. (Heck), we get to do it in front of the entire baseball world. It happens to be an All-Star Game. Go do it. Go for it. You’ve earned it. You deserve it.”
As for Pierzynski, he was left off the all-star team despite leading AL catchers in RBI and ranking second in batting average and home runs.
“I’m kind of over the whole all-star thing,” Pierzynski said. “It’s nice to hear but at the end of the day it doesn’t change anything. I’m looking forward to four days at my house and getting away from baseball and hanging out with my family.”
As for Peavy, he is running second to Texas starting pitcher Yu Darvish (10-5, 3.57 ERA) in the American League’s Final Vote competition. The totals are not released, and voting ends Thursday at 3 p.m.
Peavy is 6-5 with a 2.96 ERA.
“It has been fun,” Peavy said.
“That’s the only way to do it, to have fun with it. I’m certainly not going to sit here and promote myself. There are a lot of deserving guys. It’s just been overwhelming, the support and when you see friends coming forth when they are not asked to, to help, it’s just amazing. And watching the PR department do their thing, I’m honored.”