Gio Gonzalez will finally get a chance to pitch for the White Sox.
Right?
Drafted by the Sox in 2004 but traded to the Phillies in the Jim Thome deal, the Phils traded Gonzalez back to the Sox a year later in the Gavin Floyd deal that sent Freddy Garcia away.
Then the Sox traded him to the Athletics in 2007. Four seasons in Oakland, seven with the Nationals and one with the Brewers later, Gonzalez was signed in the offseason as a free agent to shore up the starting rotation.
This has got to be the year.
“It’s sad to say I did have that depression, like am I ever going to get to wear this wonderful uniform in this city that drafted me and get to pitch finally an inning with them,” Gonzalez said Tuesday.
Gonzalez shared those thoughts with executive vice president Ken Williams and pitching coach Don Cooper after a bullpen session.
“I was telling them, the last time I threw off this mound was in 2004,” he said. “When you get drafted you get to throw a live bullpen or you get to throw a bullpen for the team that drafted you. I had that little moment with Kenny and Coop ... Now I’m an older gentleman with a little bit of mileage on my arm. I think it was worth the wait. I just want to throw at least one pitch in the White Sox uniform, at least one pitch.”
Gonzalez was working through shoulder issues during spring training in February and March, so his time spent with a physical therapist in Florida during baseball’s shutdown was just what he needed. Gonzalez threw two innings Tuesday, and after said his shoulder is in good shape.
“From where I started to now I feel like I’ve made a dramatic change,” he said. “I made progress to what I wanted to do.
Ready or not
Having three consecutive weeks to get ready instead of six is what it is and will have to be enough, most players are saying. Live batting practice, sim games, intrasquad games and three exhibitions right before the season opener will have to do.
“We are going to have to roll with it,’ first baseman Jose Abreu said through a translator. “It’s on us to keep our focus and work hard to try to be in the best shape as possible when the season starts on the 24th. It’s on us.”
On the plus side, every team is in the same boat.
The Sox open July 24, a Friday night, against the AL Central favorite Twins. That week, they play home and home exhibitions against the Cubs July 19 and 20 and host the Brewers Wednesday.
Finishing with the Cubs
Manager Rick Renteria enjoys the crosstown rivalry as much as anyone. On closing the season with a series against the Cubs, he said: “Let’s all look forward to that. Let’s all be happy there’s a possibility of that. I know Chicago would like to see a Crosstown World Series one day, maybe this will be a little taste of it.”
Renteria managed the Cubs in 2014.
No Moncada
Yoan Moncada remained absent Tuesday. The Sox aren’t commenting but speculation persists that Moncada is one of the two players who tested positive from the coronavirus. The two Sox players are asymptomatic.
