General manager Rick Hahn said Dallas Keuchel is progressing and is penciled in to start the fourth game of the White Sox’ series against the Twins on Thursday, the day Keuchel (back spasms) is eligible to come off the 10-day injured list.
“But we won’t know that for sure until he gets back up on the mound here and does his normal between start routine starting early next week,” Hahn said Friday.
“Obviously having Dallas right for the postseason is priority one.”
Hahn said Keuchel, who was scheduled to start Saturday against the Tigers but went on the 10-day IL Thursday (retroactive to Sept. 7), probably wanted to pitch through it.
“But it’s our job to sort of take that longer term view and make sure we get everything lined up the way we need lined up for greater success than just a one- or two-start stretch here in September,” Hahn said.
Lopez starts Saturday
Reynaldo Lopez, recalled from Schaumburg Thursday, will start in Keuchel’s turn Saturday.
“Hopefully it’s an efficient outing for him, whatever it is that he gives us,” manager Rick Renteria said.
Lopez (0-2, 8.38 ERA) has allowed 14 hits and eight walks in 9 2/3 innings and has not pitched more than four innings in his four starts. He owns a 3.65 career ERA in 12 starts against the Tigers.
Hope for Bummer, Rodon
If left-handers Aaron Bummer and Carlos Rodon return from injuries, it likely won’t happen until the last week of the season.
Rodon, working his way back from a sore shoulder, was sidelined at Schaumburg with inflammation in his back/ribcage area, Hahn said, but is slated to throw on Monday and could return “in some capacity.”
The biceps strain that sidelined Bummer has healed but he is working through a nerve issue. Getting him back in his role as a seventh- and eighth-inning stopper would be a huge lift and “has hit every milestone, so he remains on track to potentially rejoin us at some point on that final road trip [in Cincinnati and Cleveland starting next Friday].”
“We had him on a deliberate slow build throwing program,” Hahn said, “one that would conceivably bring him back for the last week of the season or so.
A thumbs up for Renteria
Hired by the Cubs during their rebuild and let go when Joe Maddon became available, Renteria was hired by the Sox to lead them through their rebuild. With the Sox transitioning to win mode, Renteria is still the guy to lead in the Hahn’s view.
“I still fully believe he’s capable of taking us to that next step,” Hahn said.
“Maybe it won’t be until after this year’s over, I hope he’s able to look back and take some satisfaction in showing he wasn’t a guy who was just here to sort of be the caretaker through the rebuild.”
Dotson’s special cutouts
Two cardboard cutouts located side-by-side behind home plate at Guaranteed Rate Field Friday night tell a remarkable story.
One is of former White Sox pitcher and current Sox minor league pitching coach Rich Dotson. The other is Turk Farrell, a five-time All-Star whose 14-year career ended in 1969.
Farrell is Dotson’s biological father, which Dotson discovered only recently. The two never met – Farrell died in 1977 in an automobile accident at age 43 – but Dotson, 61, came to learn about him through a relative, as told in a compelling story by The Athletic’s Jayson Stark.
Dotson, who played 12 years with the Sox, was fourth in AL Cy Young voting in 1983 and an All-Star in 1984. It was his idea to get the cutouts.
