Carroll touched by Dunn's generosity
Let's face it, as a hitter Adam Dunn has not come close to reaching expectations since joining the White Sox prior to the 2011 season on a four-year, $56 million contract.
But through all the strikeouts - and the showers of boos at U.S. Cellular Field - Dunn has always been a stand-up guy and a model teammate.
On the latter front, the Sox' designated hitter capped starting pitcher Scott Carroll's perfect day on Sunday.
After making his major-league debut at the age of 29 and throwing 7⅓ strong innings in a 9-2 win over David Price and the Rays, Carroll asked Dunn to recommend a good place for dinner.
"Before I left the field I asked him, 'Do you know of a good spot for friends and family?' because there was over 30 of us," Carroll said. "I asked him if there was a good spot we could all go to. He's like, 'Yeah, let me make some calls.' He called over there to Timothy O'Toole's and he took care of the tab and I couldn't be more grateful. That was such a cool thing to do.
"Here I am, a teammate of his for one day and he's already hooking it up. It just shows how good of a guy he is."
Dunn said the gesture was not a big deal.
"The kid pitched great," Dunn said. "I know how special it is to kind of remember your first time. It's just something that was done for me. Hopefully he'll be able to do it for somebody else. That's one cool part of the game where, hopefully one day, he'll be in a position where he's able to do it."
Sale update:
Eligible to come off the disabled list this weekend at Cleveland, White Sox ace Chris Sale isn't likely to be ready to pitch against the Indians.
Sale is on the 15-day disabled list with a flexor muscle strain in his left arm.
"He's playing catch, he's loosening up, feeling better each day," said Sox pitching coach Don Cooper. "We don't really have a timetable for a return."
Cooper bristled when asked if Sale will have a lower pitch count when he does return from the DL. In his last start, against the Red Sox on April 17, Sale threw a career-high 127 pitches in 7 innings.
"We take pitch counts into effect," Cooper said. "We also take how they're looking into effect; we might take is there a day off in here into effect. There are lots of factors that go into us handling any of the pitchers. We're going to take care of (Sale), like we take care of everybody else.
"I mean, you can check the records on that. The bottom line is we do everything in our power to keep guys healthy and run them out there every five days, run to the post every five days and run the race. If there's organizations better than us over the last decade, I'd like to see them."