A change is coming to the Chicago White Sox rotation after the club placed right-hander Jonathan Cannon on the 15-day injured list Tuesday with a lower back strain.
But what that next move is remains to be seen.
Cannon exited after allowing five runs in three innings during Monday’s 13-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers at Rate Field.
“It was clear just with how he was feeling that it was going to be an IL (stint),” manager Will Venable said before Tuesday’s game against the Tigers. “(He) got some imaging done and they’re continuing to evaluate it. It’s going to be some time here, but we’ll continue to see how he feels before we put a timeline on it.
“I don’t want to speculate on a timeline right now as we’re continuing to just get information.”
Cannon surrendered three home runs in Monday’s outing.
“(The back) bothered me a little bit out there, but I chose to go out there and try to compete, work through it a little bit,” Cannon told reporters after Monday’s game.
Cannon has recently dealt with back issues. He was scratched ahead of a scheduled May 24 start against the Texas Rangers with lower back tightness. He rebounded in time to start on May 27 against the New York Mets at Citi Field, allowing five runs in 5 2/3 innings — including a pair of two-run home runs in the first.
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Cannon ran into more trouble in the first inning on Monday, surrendering a two-run home run to Kerry Carpenter and a solo blast to Dillon Dingler during a three-run inning. And he was out of the game after the third, throwing 85 pitches.
“We have a process for evaluating a player, trust what he tells us,” Venable said. “He’s out there throwing bullpens, and kind of a responsible ramp-up to the decision point in which we decided that he was good to throw (against the Mets).
“Fine about our process, again also trusting the player that he was in a good spot. Jonathan is a competitor and wants to pitch and believed that he was in a good spot. He just didn’t come out of this last one feeling very good.”
Cannon said Monday that he felt it “a little bit in the finish, following through a little bit, which I think is why I’ve kind of left some pitches up and struggling with a little bit of command there.”
“But I was able to work through it last week, kind of work around it and make it through the outing,” he said. “(Monday), it stiffened up on me a little bit.”
Cannon, 25, is 2-7 with a 4.66 ERA and 51 strikeouts in 12 appearances (10 starts) this season. The Sox are working through their next steps to fill the spot in the rotation.
“Scheduled for a bullpen day (Wednesday),” Venable said. “So obviously with (reliever) Caleb Freeman coming (back from Triple-A Charlotte as Tuesday’s corresponding move), add him to the mix and then evaluate where we’re at as we get through these next couple days.”
The Sox utilized Bryse Wilson in a starting role earlier this season when Martín Pérez went on the injured list. Wilson shifted back to the bullpen after the Sox signed Adrian Houser. Wilson allowed eight runs on 12 hits in five innings Monday, throwing 80 pitches.
“We haven’t really made any decisions,” Venable said of the next move. “Obviously (Wilson) threw a lot yesterday, so he’ll be down for a couple days. We’ll see what (Wednesday) looks like, knowing that we’ll be leaning on some bulk bullpen guys, also.
“So just kind of got to take it day by day for now.”
Luis Robert Jr. is not in Tuesday’s starting lineup as he works on adjustments
Struggling Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. was not in Tuesday’s starting lineup as he works on making adjustments at the plate.
“He’s continued to work really hard on making adjustments to get right,” Venable said. “As he continues to do that, similar to (Miguel) Vargas earlier in the year, where he’s taking on some real adjustments, just not having him do that with also dealing with the results of the game.
“So I just think that today and tomorrow we’ll give Luis the day off and not be in the starting lineup. He’ll be available, but not in the starting lineup, just to give him an opportunity to really dial in some of these adjustments without just feeling the pressure of having to go out there and perform. He’s in a good spot physically. And just want to give him a couple days here to lock in some of these adjustments.”
Robert is hitting .177 with five home runs and 20 RBIs in 55 games. Venable said Robert had a positive response to the move.
“He wants, more than anything, to be the best version of himself and has been extremely committed to doing that,” Venable said. “He is putting in a ton of work and working extremely hard all throughout the day to try and get this thing right.
“He agreed that it would be a good idea just to press pause on the games, just for a couple of days here. But again, he’s going to contribute and be around and obviously someone that we can use to run and play defense, so still be available for us.”
