Jarrod Dyson saw something in the White Sox when he opposed them as a member of the Pirates.
And what he witnessed was much different than a few years ago when he faced the Sox with the Royals.
“I can tell you this, I watched them take BP, take ground balls, and you saw a team that was loose and full of confidence,” Dyson said before Saturday’s game. “You can tell when they take the field, when they took the field against us when I was with Pittsburgh, they came out swinging the bat, playing defense, pitching, and you’re like, ‘Wow, this team here has really developed an environment over here and a culture.’ Because I played against these guys when I was with the Royals, and it was a little different. You see the difference now, and it’s a big difference.”
Acquired Friday from Pittsburgh for international signing bonus pool money, Dyson figures to provide the Sox a late-inning defensive replacement, speed on the bases, and championship experience from his role on the 2015 Royals.
Dyson said that playing selfish “goes out the window when you have something to fight for,” which the Sox do now.
“It’s just staying focused and every at-bat matters,” Dyson said. “Every pitch matters when you are going down that stretch. Every game matters. You never know when you are going to be back in that position and that’s why you have to give it your all. You want to look in the mirror at the end of the night and say I gave it everything.”
Why they played
Late Friday night, Yasmani Grandal said the Sox thought about not playing in the series opener with the Royals. But Grandal said the main thing for the Sox was to play because Friday was Jackie Robinson Day.
“If there’s one day you want to play, it’s today,” Grandal said. “If you don’t play today, then what’s the point? We feel like today was the day to play.”
Friday’s game was the Sox’ first game after teams from across all sports sat out in protest following the Bucks’ lead Wednesday. And if Friday night hadn’t been the annual commemoration of Robinson breaking the color barrier in 1947, the Sox might have come to a different conclusion than taking the field.
“If it wouldn’t have been Jackie Robinson Day we could’ve possibly taken a different route,” Grandal said. “We felt like today was definitely the one day that we needed to play.”
Lefty updates
Sox manager Rick Renteria said Aaron Bummer (left biceps strain) has been playing catch and feeling better. Carlos Rodon (left shoulder soreness) will have a three-inning, 60-pitch simulated game Sunday at the Sox’ Schaumburg training site.
It’s conceivable that when he returns, the Sox will treat Rodon the same way as Reynaldo Lopez: building him up one start at a time.
“Every move we make with guys that have had to put in some recovery time, we still have to take a measured approach,” Renteria said. “We’re trying to do everything we can as an organization to get them as stretched out and available to us as we possibly can. Once he rejoins us, it’ll be like with everyone. It’s measured. If we feel we can go a good distance with them, we will. We’re just trying to be very cautious.”
