Carroll showing positive signs for White Sox

The White Sox' glaring absence of reliable right-handed starting pitchers this season has been well chronicled.

It began in April, when Erik Johnson and Felipe Paulino flopped, and it continued through the better parts of May, June and July with Andre Rienzo, Hector Noesi and Scott Carroll.

Combined, Johnson, Paulino, Rienzo, Noesi and Carroll are 12-19 with a 5.77 ERA this season.

Carroll gets the ball for the Sox on Tuesday night against his hometown Kansas City Royals, and the right-hander actually has been showing positive signs since being demoted to the bullpen and moved back into the rotation.

In his last 2 starts - both wins - Carroll has pitched 11⅔ scoreless innings while allowing just 3 hits.

In the bullpen from May 20 through June 20, Carroll was able to correct some flaws.

"I think the biggest thing for me, coming back out of the bullpen, has been getting into a good rhythm and tempo on the mound and having a good pace," Carroll said. "And I've been able to execute my off-speed pitches a lot better. That's a big key for me, getting my off-speed pitches over for strikes.

"The sinker and cutter are big pitches for me and being able to just execute those pitches early in the count, it opens up the zone a lot better for later and that's helped me make them put the ball in play."

Cooper ailing:

White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper missed his second straight game Monday due to vertigo.

"It's possible he won't be here for a few days," manager Robin Ventura said. "He's not feeling too good. I talked to him today. I've never had it, but by listening to him, it doesn't sound very good."

Bullpen coach Bobby Thigpen is filling in as pitching coach until Cooper returns.

Defending Beckham:

There has been plenty of trade talk surrounding Gordon Beckham in advance of the July 31 nonwaiver deadline, but the Sox' second baseman has been through it before.

"It's part of the gig," Paul Konerko said. "You have to block out a lot of things and take the field and do your job. It shows that other teams see value in him. For Gordon, it's a different situation here as far as he came up and did everything right off the bat and that set the tone of what it should look like here.

"But a lot of teams look at him and see he's a winning player, what he does defensively, all these things that aren't the glamorous stats that he put up right away and people figured that will happen without question.

"Even though that hasn't happened as much as he wanted, that doesn't mean he couldn't be on a playoff team or World Series team doing what he's doing.

"That's why you see those rumors because there are a lot of teams that look at him and say, 'We don't care what White Sox fans or the White Sox thought he could be, this guy can help us win games.' He has to deal with that. He's a big boy. He'll be all right."