Rick Speaks: injury updates, and praise of scouts
We begin tonight with Injured List Theater:
- Nick Madrigal has a separated shoulder, IL, out a few weeks.
- Tim Anderson is "progressing nicely" and hits Schaumburg tomorrow for rehab, back shortly.
- Edwin Encarnación has some inflammation of his sternum-clavicle joint and is day-to-day.
- Reynaldo López is "a half-step behind where we thought he would be" due to a two-day stomach bug, but is beginning his rehab at Schaumburg.
- Carlos Rodón's scans came back "clean" and he will also be rehabbing at Schaumburg, with both pitchers expected back in 2020, likely this month.
- The No. 5 spot will not be filled by a young arm from Schaumburg or from the outside. It will be bullpen days at least for a next couple of No. 5 turns.
During the six-game winning streak after losing three of four, Hahn got to wax on what was most impressive about his club.
"I'm impressed by the resiliency of the team," he says. "It feels like we’re not out of any ballgame. Also, the way the bullpen has performed — not because of the talent [level], but because every club is asking so much of the bullpen right now."
While citing the progress of Dane Dunning, Jonathan Stiever and Bernardo Flores Jr. and saying that "our young pitching depth will serve us soon, and in the future," Hahn eliminated the possibility of any of those pitchers matriculating to the majors and taking one of Rodón's missed starts.
"If we need to get creative and do some spot-starts for a few turns," he says, "that’s what we’ll do."
Hahn made a funny midway through his chat in answering a question about how baseball is different in the pandemic era, with no fans, etc.
"White Sox twitter getting worked up over lineup decisions is a welcome return to societal normalcy," Hahn cracks, with a wide smile.
Meanwhile, the GM is already pretty much "back to pacing and swearing, just like you’re used to.”
Finally, I asked Hahn about the success of some of his lower draft picks and longer shots.
"It’s been great. Codi Heuer, as a starter, there wasn’t a lot of excitement in the draft room about. Nick Hostetler kept coming back to him, [saying] he’ll help us," Hahn says. "It's just our area guys knowing their area, knowing what we’re trying to develop.
"You start seeing guys like Mendick, Foster, Bummer, those are testaments to a strong area scout group getting the job done."
Pretty incredibly gracious to take a softball celebratory question and immediately hand it off to his staff, if I may say so.
Here's Hahn's full media session today, courtesy of the White Sox:
Actor (final credit: murdered by Albert Einstein in "Carnage Hall"), musician (Ethnocentric Republicans), and Nerf hoops champion, Wiffleball aficionado and onetime bilingual kindergarten teacher, Brett Ballantini also writes about baseball, basketball and sometimes hockey, for the NBA, MLB, NHL, and Slam, Hoop, Sporting News, the Athletic, SB Nation and others. He was CSN Chicago’s Blackhawks beat writer when their 49-year Stanley Cup drought ended in 2009-10, and took over the White Sox beat after that. He currently is the editor-in-chief of South Side Hit Pen and beat writer for Inside the Rays. He also wrote a book about Ozzie Guillén but is running out of space, so follow him on Twitter @BrettBallantini and he'll probably tell you even more about himself than you ever wanted to know.