Help could be on the way soon for the White Sox. According to a report Saturday night from USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, Diamondbacks infielder Eduardo Escobar is “on his way” to Chicago.
Escobar would help fill the hole left at second base by Nick Madrigal’s season-ending hamstring injury. Second base stand-ins Leury Garcia and Danny Mendick have not provided the kind of pop Escobar would bring to the lineup. Batting .254 with 17 home runs and 51 RBI this season, Escobar went 4-for-5 on Saturday in what might have been his last game in Arizona. He was not in the Diamondbacks’ lineup Sunday.
The Sox have not confirmed the deal, though manager Tony La Russa said Friday that front-office staff was working the phones.
“They’ve been making phone calls and keeping staff abreast of possibilities,” La Russa said. “And there’s no doubt in our mind — and fans should understand — that if there’s something that’s reasonable, they’re going to try hard to make it happen.”
Though the trade deadline is still over a month away, the White Sox are in a position of need now, and the rumored acquisition of Escobar would fill one of the team’s major holes in the roster.
“End of next month is not as appealing as it would be right now to get help,” La Russa said Friday.
Whatever moves the Sox make, La Russa has emphasized over the weekend that they will not be the kind that cut deep into the team’s farm system.
“I don’t know if something reasonable can be done,” he said. “I just know for the last two weeks or so, the way Kenny (Williams) and Rick (Hahn) and their teammates up there work, they’re looking and preparing and making phone calls. That’s what I’m confident — that they’re trying their best to help us. If it’s not reasonable, then we go with what we’ve got.”
Keuchel in relief
La Russa made the decision to use Dallas Keuchel, his regularly scheduled starter for Sunday, as his “starter” for the resumption of the suspended game from Saturday. Because the game is picking up in the bottom of the third inning, it is technically a relief appearance for Keuchel — his first since August 6, 2013 with the Astros.
“We spent some time going through all the different alternatives,” La Russa said. “One of the things we looked at was this is Dallas’ day to start, if he starts and does his usual game, that takes us deep into the first one and you play the second one depending on what happened in the first one.”
Doing it this way rather than saving Keuchel for game two of Sunday’s makeshift doubleheader “made the most sense,” La Russa said, because the possibility of Keuchel eating up most of the innings in game one would preserve as many arms as possible for the second game.
Kopech still progressing
Michael Kopech (hamstring) is on track to pitch his second simulated game on Monday, weather permitting.
“He did come out of the Friday outing good, looking forward to tomorrow,” La Russa said.
La Russa said he was impressed with Kopech’s command and velocity after his first sim game on Friday. Kopech has been on the injured list since May 26.
Sox All-Stars
Jose Abreu, Yasmani Grandal, and Yoan Moncada were named All-Star finalists Sunday. Fans can vote beginning Monday morning for them to start the All-Star game, held in Denver on July 13.
