Sox plan to give Buehrle a break
TUCSON, Ariz. -- If it were the regular season, Mark Buehrle would be on the mound today.
But after experiencing some stiffness in his throwing (left) shoulder, Buehrle is being scratched from his scheduled appearance in today's intrasquad game.
"In spring training, he always has some stiffness,'' said White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper. "I talked about this in the off-season; we're going to make sure we don't pile up the innings. We're going to keep him short and just make sure he's ready, not over-ready. He piles up the innings during the season, and we want to make sure he doesn't pile them up down here.''
Buehrle has pitched at least 200 innings in each of the last seven seasons, and Livan Hernandez is the only other major-league pitcher to match that workhorse feat.
White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said Buehrle is going to throw on the side Wednesday and make his Cactus League debut Friday.
"I'm always aware of guys with soreness and stiffness, especially during spring training,'' Guillen said. "Last year, it was a little bit downhill with Buehrle in the second half. Obviously, when you pitch that many years and you have that many innings without any problems, any injuries, before spring training we think about monitoring him real well.
"He just said he was tired after he pitched (Friday). It's not a big deal.''
Back to basics: The Sox went through a series of drills Sunday, and Ozzie Guillen is hoping the change pays off in the standings.
"We had six sections today, getting ready for spring-training games,'' Guillen said. "That's one of the differences between this spring training and others. We just hit, took groundballs, did the fundamentals. But now I think we're preparing the players better, thinking about base running, where are you going to throw the ball?
"We made a lot of mistakes in the past and we've got to get used to not making a lot of mistakes over the year. Obviously, we will do it, but the less mistakes you make, the better chance you give the ballclub to win.''
On the run: New third-base coach Jeff Cox has an animated style, and he attracted a media crowd Sunday while teaching baserunning drills.
"It's the one facet of our game that is most overlooked," Cox said. "It's something that needs to be worked on more.''
Being cautious: Pitching prospect Jack Egbert was supposed to throw on the side today, but the right-hander will take some time off after experiencing elbow soreness. Egbert is still expected to pitch for the White Sox when they play a split-squad game Sunday in Hermosillo, Mexico.
Nick Swisher, Josh Fields, Juan Uribe and Jerry Owens are also scheduled to make the trip.