March 04--Most of Chris Sale's early spring work has come on the backfields at Camelback Ranch as he takes a new approach to preparing for the season, so the White Sox masses likely haven't observed this about the lanky left-hander.
He put on some weight in the offseason.
Sale, who is listed at 6-foot-6, 180 pounds in the Sox media guide, said he weighed in at 190 this year. That's a positive gain for the pitcher who possesses a well-known ability to eat just about anything and still remain one of the thinnest in the Sox clubhouse.
"Moving up on my venture to 200, which is still skinny for me," Sale said. "Every year trying to (gain weight). My throwing partner (Will Lamb) ... I have to make sure he's always around me at any time. I think he might be skinnier than I am."
Sale isn't scheduled to start a Cactus League game until about March 19. As part of his efforts to put in more focused spring work, Sale threw a few simulated innings to outfielders Avisail Garcia and Adam Eaton on Friday.
Afterward, he worked on his pickoff move to first base with Double-A Birmingham pitching coach J.R. Perdew.
Sale said the work was valuable because his move is "terrible" and he'd like it to be "more natural looking." Sox pitching coach Don Cooper said left-hander Carlos Rodon also worked on it Friday.
"Having a guy like (Mark) Buehrle that's picking off guys 10, 15 times a year, that's three to five free innings of free outs," said Sale, who had three pickoffs last season. "So it's something that we want to stay on top of and control the running game.
"A lot of times catchers get flack for not throwing them out. But a lot of times it's on us getting it there quick and keeping them honest at first base. It's just as important as anything else."
