Hip strain lands Jones on 15-day disabled list
Pitching has been a big problem for the White Sox during the first week of the season, and the trend continued on Friday.
Before Erik Johnson was wildly ineffective in his first start of the season, which game at Kansas City, the Sox made a roster move in the bullpen.
Nate Jones was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a muscle strain in his left hip. Considered the favorite to take over as the White Sox' closer this season after Addison Reed was traded to the Diamondbacks in December, Jones missed the first three weeks of spring training with a gluteal strain.
In his first outing of the regular season Wednesday, Jones faced three Twins hitters and allowed 2 hits, 1 walk and 2 runs. He was back on the mound against Minnesota Thursday and walked both hitters he faced before being pulled.
"When you're thinking about something else besides hitting the mitt, then you see what happens," Jones said after Thursday's game. "It's not good for the team. I think it (hip strain) just progressed a little bit. I might have felt it a little bit when I was warming up, and when I headed out to the mound it didn't get any better."
Jones was originally going to travel with the Sox to Kansas City, but the decision changed and he landed on the DL.
"It never looked right, even when he came back in spring training," manager Robin Ventura told reporters Friday. "You're thinking it would kind of go away and it didn't. Something must be in there to make him throw like that. It's just better to put him on the DL and get him healthy."
The White Sox recalled Jake Petricka from Class AAA Charlotte to take Jones' roster spot.
Petricka, who was 1-1 with a 3.26 ERA is 16 relief appearances with the Sox last season, didn't have to wait long to make his 2014 debut.
The right-hander relieved Johnson with outs in the fifth and worked 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing 2 hits and 2 walks while striking out one.
Beckham update:
Scheduled to play in his second rehab game with Class AA Birmingham Friday night, second baseman Gordon Beckham was a late lineup scratch.
Beckham went down with a strained left oblique on March 14 and was hoping to be ready for the White Sox' season opener.
On Friday, manager Robin Ventura told reporters Beckham could be ready to come off the disabled list when the Sox return home from their first road trip of the season on Thursday, but that was before he sat out Friday.
"I don't expect to see Gordon until we're back off this road," Ventura said. "Those obliques are tricky and we have to make 100 percent sure he's ready to go and it's not going to creep back up. I know he batted (Thursday) and said he felt fine but I wouldn't expect him until after our road trip at the earliest."