Mike Clevinger felt his wrist was “a little jammed up” during the fifth inning of Wednesday’s start against the Cleveland Guardians at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“Around the sixth inning I noticed a little drop-off in (velocity), just the off-speed. Fastball felt good,” the Chicago White Sox pitcher said Monday. “In the seventh inning, it wasn’t really a lot of pain. I just couldn’t feel where the ball was coming out. So I knew something was going on, but adrenaline was obviously pretty high.”
Clevinger was sore the next day, and the Sox on Sunday placed the right-hander on the 15-day injured list with right wrist inflammation. The move is retroactive to Thursday, and he anticipates being ready when he’s eligible to return June 2.
Clevinger was in line to start again Monday against his former team, this time at Progressive Field. The Sox turned to reliever Jimmy Lambert as an opener, the first time someone other than Clevinger, Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito, Dylan Cease or Michael Kopech has made a start this season.
“The wrist soreness obviously put him on the IL, but everybody was going to catch a break at some point,” Sox manager Pedro Grifol said before Monday’s game. “He’s going to use this as his break to kind of regroup and get his strength back and take the ball again and go.
“We were one of two teams (along with the Toronto Blue Jays) that our starters had gone through their cycle without anybody coming in. That’s tough nowadays and it’s not like they’re pitching five innings. These guys are going six and seven innings. That’s why we were thinking about giving them a break, and Clevinger is going to get his now.”
Clevinger said it’s the first time he has had this sort of injury.
“I think it’s the new gyro slider I’m throwing,” he said. “It’s a position with my hand I probably haven’t done before. It’s just an adjustment with my body.
“It’s the same thing if you’re doing hip mobility in the weight room. That first day you find some new ranges, you’re going to cramp up, you’re going to be sore for a couple days, and the next time you go do it, you have a little more range. So it’s just adjusting to throwing that pitch and the way I’m getting on top of it.”
Clevinger is 3-3 with a 4.56 ERA and 40 strikeouts in nine starts. He went six-plus innings in Wednesday’s 7-2 victory, allowing two runs on six hits.
“I was finally finding a groove with all of my pitches,” he said. “I feel like each start I would have a couple pitches and one wasn’t (working). Right now I’ve started finding this groove where I was able to throw all my pitches in any count. So that kind of sucks for this, but I’ll be right back.”
Organizational starting pitching depth recently became a topic of discussion after Davis Martin, who helped fill that role in 2022 and began this season at Triple-A Charlotte, underwent Tommy John surgery.
Jesse Scholtens, recalled from Charlotte on Monday, was the first name assistant general manager Chris Getz mentioned when asked last week about potential options.
Scholtens is 2-2 with a 3.99 ERA and 42 strikeouts in seven starts with Charlotte. He appeared in two games for the Sox in April, going 0-1 with a 3.00 ERA and four strikeouts.
Getz said Scholtens had been “throwing well.” He listed a few more pitchers:
“Nate Fisher (4-4 with a 3.83 ERA in 10 outings, nine starts) has been fairly consistent. Sean Burke (0-3, 8.83 ERA in five starts), he had a little hiccup in spring training with his shoulder, got a late start to the season, and when he joined Charlotte, he was (throwing only) three innings. Quite honestly, the point he’s at right now is probably equivalent to the end of a normal spring training.
“For him, we’re seeing quality pitches. We just need more consistency in the zone, more strikes, with each of those pitches. We know what he’s capable of doing. He’s a guy that, once he gets dialed in and gets comfortable, certainly could get into the mix.
“And then we continue the development of Christian Mena (3-3, 6.27 ERA in eight starts) in Double A. Matt Thompson (1-4, 4.36 ERA in eight starts), he’s shown a little bit of inconsistency here recently, but he’s had some good outings as well. There are some options down there.”
Grifol said closer Liam Hendriks “threw the ball really well” during a live bullpen session Monday afternoon at Progressive Field.
“Ticked up from (Friday’s session at Guaranteed Rate Field),” Grifol said. “We’ll sit and talk about it, but I think we’re going to do it one more time and then we’ll see where we’re at. But he’s trending in the right direction.He’s looking good. He was strong (Monday), stronger than (Friday).”
Grifol said the next session likely would be Thursday in Detroit for Hendriks, who is working toward a return after undergoing treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Outfielder/designated hitter Eloy Jiménez (appendectomy) is getting closer to a rehab assignment. Asked if it could be this weekend, Grifol said, “Maybe sooner.”
“He’ll be going out here pretty soon if everything continues to trend in the direction it’s trending,” Grifol said. “He’s really close. He feels good.”
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