Will White Sox starter Latos break out 'critter' this season?

Major-league starters can never have enough pitches in their arsenal.

Mark Buehrle, a workhorse left-hander for the Chicago White Sox from 2000-11 who looks to be strongly leaning toward retirement, baffled hitters with five different pitches that he threw at varying speeds and angles.

Texas Rangers starter Yu Darvish throws eight pitches, including the Eephus.

When he was going 51-35 with a 3.27 ERA from 2010-13 with the San Diego Padres and Cincinnati Reds, Mat Latos kept it basic with a two-seam fastball, a four-seamer, curveball and slider, which served as his out pitch.

Latos also had a secret weapon in his back pocket - the critter.

The what?

"That's what (Marlins bullpen coach) Reid Cornelius started calling it last spring," said Latos, who signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the White Sox in early February after pitching for Miami, the Dodgers and Angels last season.

Unable to get a good feel for the slider in 2015, Latos broke out the critter and was pleased with the results.

"I lost my slider so it (critter) kind of became my out pitch," said Latos, who was a combined 4-10 with a 4.95 ERA last year. "I wasn't convinced in my slider so I threw the critter more and more. It's something to have. I don't know how much I'll be throwing it this year, it will all depend on how comfortable I am with it.

"Pitches change all the time. You can lose command. It'll be good to get my slider back because it's been my out pitch for a long time. When I feel good, it's a real good pitch."

The critter can be a good pitch, but Latos actually has no idea where it's going when it comes out of his hand.

"I just go out there and try to throw it, that's it," he said. "Throw it and let it do its thing."

What exactly is the critter, and what does it do?

When he was a freshman at Coconut Creek (Fla.) High School, Latos did some experimenting with pitches in his backyard.

"I just remember playing around with changeup grips," he said. "I remember folding my index finger alongside the horseshoe seam. I threw it one time like a changeup, with backspin, then 14 or 15 more, just screwing around with it. Then it was like, 'What happens if I wind up flicking my finger? What does it do?'"

When he throws the critter, the grip resembles a knuckle curveball due to the folded index finger. (See video at http://tinyurl.com/kwwp2s3).

"I threw a couple of them and it was hard at first," Latos said. "I just kept throwing it and I remember just trying to get it to move. For a couple of weeks it wouldn't do anything, I couldn't manipulate it like I can now.

"I threw it over and over and over again trying to get it to do something and then finally, one day, I got it."

There really isn't a constant with the critter, but the pitch does tend to float over the plate and suddenly drop in the strike zone.

"It doesn't have the same spin every time," Latos said. "It spins one direction one time, spins another direction another time. It's kind of weird. Sometimes I'll catch the seam with a finger tip and it really slows the spin down. I really don't know what it's going to do."

If he gets the feel back on his slider this season, Latos won't need to throw the critter as much as he did last year. The right-hander is also working on a straight changeup this spring.

Joining the White Sox with some recent health issues - Latos has had two surgeries on his left knee and an arthroscopic procedure to remove bone chips in his elbow - since the end of the 2013 season.

The 28-year-old pitcher still had some fluid on his left knee when he reported to the Sox' training camp two weeks ago, and he's being eased into Cactus League play.

Pitching coach Don Cooper told reporters Latos will throw a three-inning simulated game on Monday and be evaluated afterward.