White Sox’ Crain breathes sigh of relief
MILWAUKEE — Friday night might have been just another meaningless exhibition game for most White Sox players, but it meant a lot to Jesse Crain.
Slowed by a strained right adductor throughout much of spring training, Crain desperately needed to show the Sox he was healthy enough to be on the 25-man roster.
The veteran relief pitcher did just that by working with 1 scoreless inning against the Brewers at Miller Park.
On Saturday, Crain was still feeling good, prompting Sox manager Robin Ventura to proclaim the right-hander good to go for Monday’s season opener against the Royals.
“Everything’s good, so he made the team,” Ventura said of Crain. “It’s a big hurdle for us to get over as far as making a decision on him. He’s available for Monday.”
Right fielder Alex Rios (back) played a second straight game and also pronounced himself ready to go.
So, here is the Sox’ 25-man roster:
Position players — Paul Konerko, Adam Dunn, Gordon Beckham, Alexei Ramirez, Jeff Keppinger, Conor Gillaspie, Angel Sanchez, Alex Rios, Alejandro De Aza, Dayan Viciedo, Dewayne Wise.
Catchers — Tyler Flowers, Hector Gimenez.
Pitchers — Chris Sale, Jake Peavy, Gavin Floyd, Jose Quintana, Dylan Axelrod, Addison Reed, Jesse Crain, Matt Thornton, Nate Jones, Matt Lindstrom, Hector Santiago, Donnie Veal.
Final cuts: Following exhibition loss to the Brewers, the White Sox made six roster moves.Relief pitcher Brian Omogrosso was optioned to Class AAA Charlotte and catcher Bryan Anderson, infielders Josh Bell and Steve Tolleson and pitchers Jeff Gray and Ramon Troncoso were reassigned to minor-league camp.The Sox left Milwaukee with 25 players on the roster.Omogrosso would have made the club if Jesse Crain needed more time to get healthy.In 12 exhibition innings this spring, Omogrosso did not allow an earned run.#147;We saw Omo last year,#148; manager Robin Ventura said. #147;He knew coming up here that if Jesse wasn#146;t healthy he had a shot of being that guy. Once Jesse passed the test, he was going to Charlotte.#148;Final fling:Dylan Axelrod, who is opening the season in the Sox#146; rotation in place of John Danks (shoulder), got plenty of work in Saturday#146;s game against the Brewers.Axelrod, the White Sox#146; fifth starter, allowed 3 runs on 8 hits in 5 innings of relief. The right-hander threw 103 pitches.#147;All in all, I felt good about it,#148; Axelrod said. #147;I threw a lot of pitches and that was the goal today, to get my pitch count up. I felt pretty good, for the most part.#148;