Chicago White Sox clean it up in 4-2 win over Rangers
General manager Rick Hahn isn't looking for perfection from the Chicago White Sox, but he hasn't liked what he has seen over much of the first quarter of the season.
"There's been times where all of us have been frustrated with sort of the sloppiness that has shown itself from time to time," Hahn said. "Physical errors are going to happen. The mental errors are a little more difficult to stomach. I know that the preparation is still there. I know that the focus of the staff and the players is still in the right direction, it's in the right place.
"But certainly one thing that has been disappointing is that the crispness with which we played in Arizona (during spring training), we weren't able to really carry into the season for whatever reason."
The Sox were slogging through Thursday night's game against the Texas Rangers before they came to life in the eighth inning and rallied for a 4-2 win.
Matt Davidson drew a bases-loaded walk to tie the game, and Welington Castillo decided the outcome with a 2-run single.
White Sox starter James Shields allowed 1 run on 3 hits in 7⅓ innings and also had 8 strikeouts. At 11-29, the Sox still are off to their worst start to a season in franchise history.
"You can make excuses about weather or health or whatever," Hahn said. "Maybe some of those are relevant as to why we stagnated early, but we were playing good ball in Arizona. We know on a given night that we might be outmanned and that we might get beat. We're prepared for that.
"We were very honest with ourselves about where we're at in this cycle. It's the nights where we seem to beat ourselves that are more disappointing and a little bit more difficult to stomach."
Rodon update:
Carlos Rodon is getting closer to rejoining the White Sox's starting rotation.
Coming back from Sept. 27 shoulder surgery, Rodon has been throwing in Arizona. The 25-year-old lefty is scheduled to start for low Class A Kannapolis on Saturday night.
"He's been throwing in extended spring training, made a number of starts there, each of which have gone well," general manager Rick Hahn said. "He is currently without restriction other than building up his endurance and pitch count."
If he stays on course, Rodon is likely to be back with the Sox around June 1.
Robert update:
Top outfield prospect Luis Robert is still in extended spring training recovering from a sprained ligament in his left thumb.
In early June, the White Sox are hoping Robert is ready to play for the first time in the United States, with Kannapolis or high Class A Winston-Salem.
"He's progressing," GM Rick Hahn said. "He's hitting in cages, he's doing defensive drills and hopefully he'll be playing in games down there by the end of the month."
Since Robert has missed the first two months of the season, Hahn hinted the 20-year-old outfielder could play in the Arizona Fall League to get additional playing time.
Slow go:
Neither right fielder Avisail Garcia (hamstring) nor starting pitcher Miguel Gonzalez are close to coming off the disabled list.
Garcia has been out since April 24 and "is not completely asymptomatic in terms of what he's feeling, so we're being very cautious with how we ramp him up," GM Rick Hahn said.
Gonzalez had a PRP (platelet rich plasma) injection in his shoulder and won't be able to throw for 10-14 days.