Feeling 'significantly better,' Giolito hopes to miss only 2 starts for Sox

Lucas Giolito (abdominal strain) officially landed on the 10-day injured list before the White Sox played their home opener Tuesday against the Mariners.

The move is retroactive to Saturday, so the hope is Giolito misses only two starts before returning to the Sox's rotation.

He is certainly optimistic.

"Feel significantly better each day," said Giolito, who was injured after pitching 4 innings against the Tigers during Friday's season opener. "Been able to keep my arm moving, which is something that was super important to me with this process and having to miss some time."

Giolito played catch Tuesday for the first time since getting hurt and seems to be on the right path to making a quick recovery,

"It's still early in this process," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "I think we all remain cautiously optimistic that he'll miss two starts. He's progressing nicely. Quite frankly, at this point, it's probably a little bit more about reining him back and keeping him on a prudent ramp back up, realizing that we want him strong for the next six, seven months here, not just for next week in Cleveland, let's say.

"But right now, everything's progressing in a positive way and we can stick with that two-start estimate."

Not happening:

In need of help in the starting rotation with Lucas Giolito and Lance Lynn (knee) on the IL, the Sox do have an interest in trading for Athletics right-hander Frankie Montas.

They have zero interest in sending Andrew Vaughn to Oakland to make the deal.

"Part of the reason I joke about the rumors from last night, we are not looking to rob Peter to pay Paul to make this team better," general manager Rick Hahn said Tuesday. "Guys we view as important in helping this team win wouldn't be the first ones out the door as we try to make this team better."

Vaughn, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 draft, hit 15 home runs as a rookie last season and is off to a strong start his year after injuring his hip in spring training.

Montas, who made his major-league debut with the White Sox in 2015 before being traded to Oakland, was 13-9 with a 3.37 ERA for the A's last year.

Baines feted:

Sox Hall of Famer Harold Baines got some big applause at the Sox's home opener Tuesday before throwing the ceremonial first pitch to Bo Jackson.

In his native Maryland 11 months ago, Baines received a heart and kidney transplant at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins Hospital.

"A second lease on life," Baines said. "I'm grateful. It wasn't easy, but the nurses and the doctors made it to the point where I was comfortable to be here without worrying about the next day. I'm very grateful."

Roster moves:

New right fielder AJ Pollock joined Lucas Giolito on the 10-day injured list Tuesday.

After singling at Detroit in the third inning Saturday, Pollock came out of the game with a strained right hamstring. In addition to being on the IL, the 34-year-old outfielder is on paternity leave.

"He is back in Arizona for the birth of a child," GM Rick Hahn said. "We knew that obviously he wasn't going to play Sunday after needing to leave Saturday's game with what would have been a paternity leave. He was going to be away from us for five games. Not necessarily knowing how he is going to feel on Day 6 and wanting to err on the side of caution, we thought putting him on the IL is probably the more prudent move.

"We are optimistic come Day 11 or 12 he should be ready to get going again. We aren't going to know for sure until he gets back on Day 6."

The White Sox recalled two pitchers from Class AAA Charlotte to take Giolito and Pollock's roster spots, right-hander Jimmy Lambert and lefty Anderson Severino.

Lambert is scheduled to start in place of Giolito Thursday vs. the Mariners.