Gonzalez gets second chance to be White Sox's No. 5 starter
Miguel Gonzalez wasn't very good last season, when he was a starting pitcher for the Orioles.
The veteran right-hander wasn't very good in spring training either, and Baltimore released him.
Gonzalez signed a minor-league deal with the Chicago White Sox, and he wasn't very good in an April 25 start at Toronto, allowing 5 runs on 11 hits in 5⅓ innings.
The Sox sent Gonzalez back to Class AAA Charlotte after the early look, but he'll be back on the mound Monday at Texas.
"He's going to get a run Monday, see how many innings he can go," manager Robin Ventura said of Gonzalez. "I think he has a presence about him that he can throw strikes and do what he needs to do to get through it."
The White Sox also considered bringing up Jacob Turner, Chris Volstad and even prized prospect Carson Fulmer to start against the Rangers.
While Gonzalez is coming up from Charlotte, Erik Johnson is heading back down to Triple-A after starting against the Red Sox Thursday night and allowing 4 runs on 8 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings while throwing 108 pitches.
Boston is the highest scoring team in the American League, so that might be considered if the White Sox think about giving Johnson another shot this season.
"I thought Erik, a tough lineup to go through," Ventura said. "It wasn't his best one, but at least he gutted through it and got us through five. It wasn't one of those where he just tore up the bullpen."
Roster move:
The Sox sent Erik Johnson back to Charlotte Thursday night. On Friday, they recalled right-handed reliever Scott Carroll to take his spot.
Carroll made 18 appearances out of the bullpen for the White Sox last season, going 1-1 with a 3.44 ERA. A shoulder issue in April limited Carroll to 3 games with Charlotte this season.
"There was just kind of some instability going on with my shoulder, but I got it all cleared up and I'm feeling good, really strong," Carroll said. "I'm really glad to be up here. The vibe is awesome up here."
Deserving Hero:
Walter Guzy was on the receiving end of the biggest applause at U.S. Cellular Field Friday night, with good reason.
The 100-year-old St. Charles resident was the White Sox's Hero of the Game. Sergeant Guzy served in General George Patton's Third Army in World War II and arrived on Normandy Beach on D-Day. He also fought in the Battle of the Bulge and received multiple awards and medals, including the Bronze Star.
Long night:
Not only did the White Sox lose to the Red Sox 7-3 Thursday night, the game ran 3 hours, 57 minutes and featured 360 pitches and 16 walks.
"Any time a game's like that, and the pace is like that, the players don't like it, the fans don't like it," manager Robin Ventura said. "It sucks the life out of it a little bit, not having a crisp game. If we would have come out on the winning end of that, we wouldn't have minded it as much. We know we like to play a little crisper game and we need to do that."