White Sox working through rotation hurdles

White Sox starter Sean Burke hit a bit of a wall earlier in August.

“The (Aug. 16) outing in Detroit is probably the worst I felt physically,” he told the Tribune on Tuesday. “Not really painful or anything, more kind of like some dead-body, dead-arm feeling.”

The right-hander got with the trainers and strength staff.

“(We) figured out some tweaks and adjustments to make throughout the week, just to make my body and everything feel good for the day I’m pitching,” Burke said.

Burke said in his last start against the New York Mets that he felt “really good again.”

“So definitely trending back upwards and I feel good,” said Burke, who is slated to start Wednesday’s series finale against the Texas Rangers.

A healthy — and productive — rotation will be key for the Sox as they battle for a division title. The team entered Tuesday’s game against the Rangers with a 2 1/2-game lead over the second-place Cleveland Guardians in the American League Central.

“Like it has been every year, you find these pockets where you feel really good about where you’re at with your pitching staff and your bullpen, and then there’s some times where you feel like there’s some instability, and you’re really just trying to hang on,” manager Will Venable said before Tuesday’s game. “And either way, the job is to find a way to win today. And I think that we’ve done a really good job of kind of whatever our kind of broader situation is with our pitching that we’re going to find a way to find a path for tonight’s game.

“And so that’s what we’ll continue to do.”

A little more length out of the starters would be helpful. The Sox entered Tuesday ranked last in the majors with 561 innings pitched by starters — a number impacted in part by their occasional use of an opener.

But the lack of length has meant plenty of work for the bullpen, as was the case Monday after starter José Urquidy allowed five runs over three innings in an 11-2 loss to the Rangers. Urquidy walked four and hit two batters.

It was the second time in three games that a Sox starter didn’t make it to the fourth inning. Luis Castillo had an even shorter appearance on Saturday, surrendering four runs over 2 2/3 innings in a 10-5 loss to the Mets.

Castillo has a 5.89 ERA in four starts since being acquired on Aug. 1 in a trade with the Seattle Mariners. He was phenomenal on Aug. 12 against the Cincinnati Reds, allowing one hit and striking out 10 in seven scoreless innings. But he hasn’t made it through five innings in his last two starts.

Anthony Kay has been the team’s most effective starter this month. The left-hander headed into Tuesday’s start with a 2.66 ERA in his last four outings. He had 17 strikeouts and four walks in 23 2/3 innings during the stretch, while pitching at least six innings in three of the four starts.

After going 4 1/3 innings against the Tigers on Aug. 16, Burke took away some positives from Friday’s outing against the Mets. He allowed four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and no walks in six innings.

“The result wasn’t what I wanted it to be, but as far as the stuff and how I felt, and the command of a lot of stuff, I felt good about it,” he said. “If you tell me any time I go out there I’m going to throw six innings, no walks and 75% strikes, I’m going to take my chances on it being a good game.”

While not always technically starting, Urquidy and Fedde have stepped in over the past couple of weeks as bulk pitchers.

Fedde, who began the season as a starter before moving to the bullpen at the beginning of the month, has 8 2/3 scoreless innings in his last two appearances following an opener.

Urquidy shut down the Cubs on Aug. 19, striking out eight while allowing two hits in six relief innings. But the pitch count escalated quickly on Monday (93 pitches in three innings) when he made his first start since Sept. 29, 2023, while with the Houston Astros.

The Sox have had to do some juggling with starter Davis Martin on the injured list. The right-hander, who has been out since Aug. 14, is working his way back from a blister on his right middle finger.

Regardless of the situation, the Sox are keeping the focus on the task ahead.

“We’re just going to figure out what to do today,” Venable said, “and that’s going to be our mindset.”

Sox place reliever Huáscar Brazobán on the IL

Relief pitcher Huáscar Brazobán went on the 15-day injured list with a left lat strain, the Sox announced before Tuesday’s game. In the corresponding move, the Sox recalled right-hander Jonathan Cannon from Triple-A Charlotte.

Brazobán has a 6.30 ERA in 10 relief appearances since being acquired from the New York Mets in an Aug. 3 trade.

The Sox also placed outfielder Andrew Benintendi on the bereavement/family medical emergency list and recalled infielder/outfielder Rikuu Nishida from Charlotte.