Sox hope extra rest benefits Peavy
The White Sox’ starting rotation continues to change by the day, if not the hour and minute.
Before Tuesday’s loss to the Indians, manager Robin Ventura confirmed veteran Jake Peavy is going to be pushed back a day, from Wednesday to Thursday, and hopefully benefit from the extra rest.
Hector Santiago makes a spot start for Peavy on Wednesday, and it sounded like the rest of the Sox’ rotation was also going to be moved back a day.
“Most of it is just getting those guys an extra day,” Ventura said. “Even watching Chris (Sale on Monday) night, he’s at a different point than he’s been at in his career. It’s just good to get him an extra day. Whenever that’s happened, he’s been a little stronger.”
Later, the White Sox announced Gavin Floyd is going to start Friday, Chris Sale on Saturday and Sunday is TBA.
Floyd and Sale would go on regular four days rest, and Sale would also be lined up to pitch a potential Game 163 tiebreaker against the Tigers, as would Justin Verlander for Detroit.
Mr. Versatile:Hector Santiago makes his third start of the season for the Sox on Wednesday night.The left-hander opened the season as the White Sox#146; closer and has made 38 relief appearances.Santiago isn#146;t fully stretched out, so the Sox would gladly settle for 4-5 quality innings.#147;A couple days before, you want to go 6-7-8 (innings),#148; Santiago said. #147;But the day of the start, you get to the first, get through the second and go one by one and try to go as deep as you can.#148;In his 2 starts, Santiago has allowed 1 run in 9 innings while striking out 14.Power over average:Adam Dunn ranks near the top of American League leaders with 41 home runs.He also ranks near the bottom with a .209 batting average.According to White Sox hitting coach Jeff Manto, Dunn is capable of hitting for a much higher average.#147;If he wanted to, he could probably hit .280 to .300, without question,#148; Manto said. #147;He#146;s one of the most athletic, big sluggers that I#146;ve ever been around. He can do lots of things. He chooses to drive the ball as hard as he can. If he wanted to go to left field more often, I#146;m sure he would. Right now, I don#146;t know if we are calling for that. He#146;s a special, special hitter.#148;Hawk#146;s a homer:In what should come as no surprise, Ken #147;Hawk#148; Harrelson was deemed the biggest homer among major-league broadcasters in a study done by the Wall Street Journal.The newspaper analyzed broadcast crews for one winning home game this season and charted words like #147;we#148; and #147;us#148; while also tracking celebrations and over the top nicknames.The WSJ evaluated Harrelson and partner Steve Stone during a July 5 home win over the Rangers and came up with 104 #147;biased comments.#148;The Indians#146; crew of Rick Manning and Matt Underwood was second with 23.Harrelson is nearing the end of his 28th season in the TV booth and is well known for his rabid support and style.#147;You just made my day,#148; Harrelson told the WSJ. #147;That#146;s the biggest compliment you could give me, to call me the biggest homer in baseball.#148;