March 13--Minnesota native Jake Petricka played hockey through high school, so the White Sox reliever said he "just blocked a shot like hockey" when he took a comebacker off his right shoulder while pitching against the Cubs on Saturday.
"I've taken a lot worse than that too," Petricka said.
Petricka said he was lucky to be hit in the right spot on his throwing arm so that he suffered just a bruise, and he doesn't expect the injury to derail his spring schedule.
It was the second injury to Sox relievers in two days. Right-hander Zach Putnam tweaked his right hamstring while stretching on Friday. Both pitchers are competing to be key components in the bullpen.
Petricka has thrown two scoreless innings over his three outings, allowing three hits with one walk and one strikeout. He was "bummed" to leave Saturday's game after throwing three pitches because he was eager to test out his work on his slider, which he said "hasn't been there the last couple of years."
"We've come a long ways with it," Petricka said. "I threw it in the previous outing. It was nice and low, but it wasn't for a strike where I wanted. I was looking forward to getting hitters' reactions out of it again."
Putnam has given up three earned runs on six hits with a walk and a strikeout over 1 2/3 innings thus far. He said the injury is "nothing serious," but he is not on the Sox pitching schedule through Thursday.
"At this point in the spring, just being cautious and making sure it doesn't turn into something that'll start me on the shelf," Putnam said.
