Ricky Speaks: Roster and infirmary notes
Before Wednesday night's exhibition finale vs. the Milwaukee Brewers, White Sox manager Ricky Renteria circled the bases of end-of-Summer-Camp questions, shedding just a shred of light on his 2020 team.
Renteria confirmed that Nomar Mazara would be out of action on Opening Day, heading to the 10-day injured list. But the mentor felt comfortable that he had good options in lieu of his big bopper — including Nicky Delmonico, who Renteria listed as able to play right field and third base in addition to his customary left field. For a guy in Delmonico who sometimes seems a little lost in left, it's a bold defensive step forward.
Perhaps most notably on Wednesday was the revelation of the fifth starter. Presumed for some time to be Carlos Rodón, Renteria seemed to confirm that by revealing that Gio González would not even be pitching in Wednesday's game. That would seem to indicate that at best González was destined to be a sixth starter, but more likely filling a relief role that the veteran lefty was unsure he could fill when he first spoke to media from Summer Camp.
For what it's worth, Renteria said González was pitching "really well," so perhaps a sixth starting slot is in the offing.
As seen in the above clip, Renteria was also open to a closer committee, but endorsed incumbent Alex Colomé for the main role, citing his closer "mentality." The manager did acknowledge that Aaron Bummer, Steve Cishek and others could find themselves closing games in 2020 as well.
For the full Renteria session, courtesy of the White Sox, watch below:
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.