White Sox 25-man roster looks to be set
MILWAUKEE - Manager Rick Renteria said he'll wait until Saturday before announcing the Chicago White Sox's 25-man roster, but the unit was all but set heading into Friday night's exhibition game against the Brewers at Miller Park.
With the regular season opening Monday with a home game against the Detroit Tigers, here's how the Sox's 25-man roster shapes up:
Pitchers: Jose Quintana, James Shields, Derek Holland, Miguel Gonzalez, Dylan Covey, David Robertson, Nate Jones, Dan Jennings, Jake Petricka, Zach Putnam, Anthony Swarzak, Michael Ynoa.
Infielders: Jose Abreu, Tyler Saladino, Tim Anderson, Todd Frazier, Cody Asche, Yolmer Sanchez, Matt Davidson, Leury Garcia.
Asche can also play left and right field and Garcia can play center.
Outfielders: Melky Cabrera, Jacob May, Avisail Garcia.
Catchers: Geovany Soto, Omar Narvaez.
Pitching coach Don Cooper said Covey is going to open the season as the White Sox's fifth starter.
Selected from Oakland in the major-league portion of the Rule 5 draft in December, Covey fills in for Carlos Rodon, who is going to open the season on the disabled list with bursitis in his left shoulder.
"We've been keeping our eye on Covey quite a bit, and Swarzak," Renteria said. "None of our youngsters that we project to be a part of our future are in that mix."
Top pitching prospects Reynaldo Lopez, Lucas Giolito and Carson Fulmer are all opening the season with Class AAA Charlotte. Michael Kopech is likely to begin the year with high Class A Winston-Salem and finish up with AA Birmingham.
Change in plans:
James Shields was scheduled to start Friday night's game against Milwaukee, but the veteran right-hander opted for a bullpen session and minor-leaguer Gregory Infante got the ball.
"That was my seventh time throwing in spring training, so I just wanted to get a bona fide bullpen session in," Shields said. "We kind of simulated a few innings in there so there was quite a bit of work today. I just wanted to work out a few kinks. I'm ready to go."
Shields is going to follow Jose Quintana in the rotation to open the season. Derek Holland is the Sox's No. 3 starter, followed by Miguel Gonzalez and Dylan Covey.
Mission accomplished:
The White Sox finished Cactus League play with a 16-15-2 record, and Rick Renteria was more than satisfied in his first camp as manager.
"We just tried to make sure that we were fundamentally as sound as we could be," Renteria said. "We worked on a lot of the small things, made sure we caught the ball. I thought the guys brought a lot of energy, I thought they were very focused, I thought we had fun."
Nearing the end:
The White Sox lost to the Brewers 5-2 in Friday night's exhibition game.
The Sox were held to 2 singles until the ninth inning, when doubles by Eddy Alvarez and Nicky Delmonico ended Milwaukee's shutout bid.
The White Sox end the preseason today with another game against the Brewers.