Sox starter Floyd a little leaner

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Gavin Floyd had himself quite a winter.

In addition to welcoming his first child (Floyd’s son Jax was born in November), the White Sox starting pitcher checked into training camp around 230 pounds after weighing as much as 250 last season.

“For the most part, I’ve been kind of lanky and skinny my whole life,” said Floyd, who was 10-13 with a 4.08 ERA last season. “There was a point where I wanted to get strong and maybe be able to throw a little harder. But my theory is, I think your body can only get so big.”

By eliminating some weight, Floyd is hoping his chronically sore left hip holds up for the full season.

“If you get too big I think it might restrict you in flexibility, and pitching is big in flexibility,” Floyd said. “You have to be lean and limber. The past couple of seasons my hip has bothered me. So I wanted to get leaner just to take the pressure off since that’s the hip I land on.”

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Omar Vizquel worked out Sunday, and the veteran infielder is looking forward to playing his 22nd season in the major leagues.

“It’s really exciting for me to have another year,” said Vizquel, who turns 44 on April 24.

“I’m getting older and older and I question myself, ‘How long will it be and when will it be the time?” So far, so good, man. I feel very, very good.

“The health is great. I had a great off-season with my training and the body is holding on, so as long as that’s OK I think I will continue to do what I do best.”

Vizquel was a pleasant surprise for the White Sox last season.

When third baseman Mark Teahen went down with a fractured finger in late May, Vizquel stepped in and sparked the Sox to a 26-5 record to close out the first half.

Overall, he batted .276 with a .341 on-base percentage.

“I had a good year with the White Sox,” said Vizquel, who is back with a one-year, $1.75 million contract. “I played my role very well and played some third base, second base, shortstop. Whenever they needed me I was there. I adjusted to the ballpark and the fans. I like this city, and I played well.”

Vizquel enters the season with 2,799 career hits. Can he make it to the coveted 3,000 plateau?

“I’ve given it a thought, but it’s going to be really hard,” Vizquel said. “It all depends on what I’m going to do this year. Maybe if I get 80 hits this year, maybe I can push it for another year if I feel good. But I’m not thinking about it, really.”

Rain daze:

Another wet and windy day limited the Sox’ workout Sunday, but manager Ozzie Guillen said it was no big deal.

“If we had the complete workout squad that’s different, because it’s more difficult,” Guillen said. “But the guys that were supposed to pitch, they pitched. What we had to do, we got it done.”