Changes starting for Sox
NEW YORK -- White Sox starting pitcher John Danks was lit up by the Yankees in Wednesday night's 8-1 loss, but the rookie has performed well enough overall to keep his rotation spot.
Veteran Jose Contreras, on the other hand, has not.
A day after Contreras allowed 7 runs on 8 hits (3 home runs) in just 2ˆº innings while losing his seventh straight start, Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said the 35-year-old right-hander is being demoted to the bullpen.
Gavin Floyd is scheduled to start in place of Contreras on Sunday at Detroit.
"Right now, that's what we're going to do, for the good of Jose,'' Guillen said. "We'll try to protect him to see if it's mentally, physically, guts, whatever it is. We're going to skip him 1 start and see what happens.''
Should Floyd fare well against Detroit, he's likely to stay in the rotation. If he doesn't, Contreras should get another chance at salvaging a season that steadily has gone downhill.
"I think he's going to be fine,'' Guillen said of Contreras, who leads the major leagues with 14 losses. "I don't think he's going to lose his job. It's just 1 start to skip all these crazy things going around him, and around me and the team, and hopefully that thing works.''
After Tuesday's start, a dejected Contreras said he'd understand if he were pulled from the rotation.
"The way I'm going right now, it doesn't even matter if I have an opinion or not,'' Contreras said through a translator. "If they move me to the bullpen, that's what I'm going to do. I just have to do what I have to do, what the team tells me to do.''
Contreras pitched in relief before, going 1-1 with a 7.43 ERA in 9 appearances for the Yankees in 2003.
"If we need him, we're going to use him,'' Guillen said. "I don't think Contreras can go skip 1 start and pitch the next one without throwing the ball. We will find a spot for him to work and see what happens.''
As for Floyd (0-1, 10.05 ERA), he needs to show much more in order to stick with the White Sox.
"Gavin is still a guy that we're going to find out more about, a guy we want to see,'' said Sox pitching coach Don Cooper. "Obviously, in a few starts, they haven't been the way he would have wanted or we would have scripted.''
Should Floyd fail and Contreras continue to struggle, the White Sox likely would look in the minor leagues for a No. 5 starter. Class AA Birmingham's Gio Gonzalez appears most likely to get the first audition.
"Anybody that might be in our picture next year would have to be considered now to see what we can find out about them during the season rather than spring training,'' Cooper said. "I think we've seen what can happen with guys where we have to learn about them in spring training. It's not the best place to do it, whether it be a hitter or a pitcher.
"Another thought is we have two months in the season and we're playing all good teams, all teams that are going to be in the contention. So, it's a good testing ground, as well as Kansas City, who is playing for something because they want for us to be in last place rather than them.''