The elbow problems keep creeping up on the White Sox. The latest came Thursday morning at Camelback Ranch, where right-hander Drew Thorpe left a minor league game with soreness.
GLENDALE, Ariz. — The elbow problems keep creeping up on the White Sox. The latest came Thursday morning at Camelback Ranch, where right-hander Drew Thorpe exited a minor-league game with soreness.
“Sounds like discomfort of the elbow,” manager Will Venable said. “We’ll evaluate it and likely do some imaging and see where we’re at.”
Thorpe, 24, was the top commodity acquired along with three others from the Padres a year ago for Sox ace Dylan Cease. Also traded from the Yankees for Juan Soto, the 2023 Minor League Pitcher of the Year posted a 3.03 ERA in his first seven starts for the Sox last season before struggling in his final two outings. He had season-ending surgery to shave down a bone spur on Sept. 7.
Thorpe then experienced more soreness in the offseason and received a cortisone shot Jan. 24, delaying his start to spring training. He had been working his way back with bullpens and live batting practices and pitched in his first game Thursday.
“Really unfortunate, he’s been working really hard to get back,’’ Venable said, “and obviously for the whole organization it’s tough when there’s a setback. But for him, he’s just been working so hard. Hopefully just a hiccup and he can just get back on track.”
Thorpe was on the mound warming up for his second inning when he signaled for a trainer.
This spring alone, Sox pitching prospects Juan Carela, Ky Bush and Blake Larson and right-hander Prelander Berroa were lost to Tommy John surgery, and prospect Mason Adams left his last start with a flexor strain in his right elbow.
Benintendi ‘checks boxes’
Left fielder Andrew Benintendi came away from his first game in three weeks Wednesday with no issues.
“I kind of checked a lot of boxes,” he said.
Benintendi, who didn’t play Thursday after getting three at-bats as a designated hitter Wednesday, is expected to play left field Friday.
He said “it’s hard to say” how many at-bats he’d need to be ready for Opening Day.
“You come out 10-for-10 and you are good with 10 at-bats,” he said. “You go 0-for-10 and you think you need 50, 100. Kind of depends.”
Colas cut
Outfielder Oscar Colas, once a prized prospect who made the Opening Day roster in 2023 but hit .216 and was returned to the minors, was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. Colas, 26, was a long shot to make it this spring with five outfielders essentially locked in — Benintendi, Luis Robert Jr., Mike Tauchman, Michael A. Taylor and Austin Slater. And Travis Jankowski was added to the mix last week.
Colas was 4-for-16 with seven strikeouts this spring while playing left field, right field and first base.
The Sox have 41 players in camp.
Notes
Top left-handed pitching prospects Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith will start split-squad games Saturday at the Mariners and Rockies in Peoria and Glendale, respectively.
† Senior adviser to pitching Brian Bannister on Opening Day starter Sean Burke: “He’s really rounded out his arsenal. I’m just very bullish on what he’s done and his ability to go out and continue to get better.”
† Derrick Rose will throw out the first pitch on Opening Day on Thursday.
Sox 2, Angels 1
Left-hander Martin Perez made his final Cactus League start, going four scoreless innings with five strikeouts, two hits and one walk. Perez, who will stay in Arizona to pitch in a minor-league game Tuesday after the team heads north for the season opener Thursday, finished the spring with a 2.25 ERA.
‘‘I’m ready,’’ Perez declared. ‘‘I’m ready to go up there to Chicago and compete.’’ Perez’s earliest start could come March 30 at home against the Angels. If not, he likely would face the visiting Twins on March 31.
• Andrew Vaughn (.234) came close to getting his first homer of the spring on an RBI double off the fence that scored the Sox’ runs. Luis Robert Jr. (.268) had two singles and Miguel Vargas (.333) walked twice.
• Tim Anderson (.271) played second base and drove in the Angels’ run with a single to right.
• The Sox are 9-16-1 with four games left.
“We feel good about where we’re at, the progress we’ve made,” manager Will Venable said. “We still have work to do, we understand that. But really happy with where we’ve got to at this point in camp and excited to start the season here. It’s been a great camp for us.”
• On deck: Sox at Reds, 3:05 p.m. Friday, Goodyear, Sean Burke vs. Brady Singer.
Rule 5 Draft pick has good spring, makes Opening Day roster
They can talk all they want about turning the page from last year, that historically bad 121-loss season that broke the modern day record for defeats, held for 62 years by the 1962 expansion Mets.
Rojas (big toe hairline fracture) hopes to get on a field in three or four days, he said.
Sox manager Will Venable said it, but he didn’t have to: “Major-league shortstop, you’ve got to be able to do a lot of things well. So we’ll have high expectations for whoever’s there.”
