GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Tyler Saladino has seen significant time at third base, shortstop and second base in his two-year major league career, and also made cameos at first base (two innings), left field (three innings), right field (2/3 of an inning) and center field (1/3 of an inning). But there could be another position he plays at some point: catcher.
Saladino caught prospect Spencer Adams' bullpen session on Thursday, which was about 20-25 pitches. Renteria said Saladino brought up the idea of catching this spring, which would add another layer of versatility to the 27-year-old's defensive skillset.
"It's a valuable piece to have, if he's able to do that," Renteria said. "Obviously those are situations in which if he comes in when something happens, he can help us get through a ballgame later on.
"… For him to be able to do that would be an asset. Obviously you don't want to take away from all of the other things he's capable of doing. If he can get comfortable in being able to do that, get us through an inning or two if need be, that would be great for us, to give us a little flexibility."
Saladino was the White Sox emergency catcher in 2016.
Giolito cruises at Camelback
Lucas Giolito allowed one run in four innings in the White Sox 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday, with his main goal to work on throwing his curveball for strikes while incrementally increasing his innings count.
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Giolito allowed three hits -- one of them a solo home run hit by Arizona shortstop Chris Owings -- and finished his afternoon with one walk and one strikeout. It wasn't his sharpest outing, but at this point of spring training, Baseball America's No. 25 prospect is more focused on soaking up his time with his teammates and working on a few things to get ready for the 2017 season.
"I'm feeling really good," Giolito said. "I'm enjoying working with (pitching coach Don Cooper) a lot. We're getting a lot of good work in in the days in between starts. Just being in the clubhouse, it didn't take me very long to feel very comfortable and feel like I'm making a lot of close friends here and meshing together as a team very well."
Welcome, Matt
Matt Davidson, who's expected to be in the mix at designated hitter for the White Sox this year, got off to a slow start in Cactus League play: Entering Thursday, he had three hits in 20 at bats with a .492 OPS. Against his former club, Davidson doubled his hit total and bashed his first spring home run.
Davidson delivered RBI singles in each of his first two at-bats then sent a Randall Delgado offering over the left field wall in the fifth. He struck out in his final at-bat but -- in a classic example of spring training sample sizes -- raised his OPS to .774 with just one game's worth of at-bats.
Prior to Thursday's game, manager Rick Renteria said "it's natural" for a player in Davidson's position to be pressing a bit, and said he talked with the 26-year-old about tuning out some of the "background noise."
"A lot of it comes from the outside, some of it comes from within," Renteria said. "You create a little pocket for yourself in which you pigeon-toe yourself into what you're supposed to be doing, as opposed to just letting the approaches and processes they're going through provide the results. We've tried to make sure we talk to all of the guys about being themselves, do what they do, and let the chips fall where they may."
Other notes from White Sox 4, Diamondbacks 2:
-- Center fielder Jacob May made a spectacular catch, chasing down a fly ball while banging into the left-center field call. It's better seen than described, so:
-- Catcher Kevan Smith homered, doubled and drew praise from Giolito for his ability to block a few fastballs in the dirt. With Geovany Soto and Omar Narvaez also in camp, Smith may be on the outside looking in of a major league roster spot, but he's a guy who minor leaguers have roundly enjoyed throwing to over the last few years.
-- Right-hander Zack Burdi fired a scoreless eighth inning, striking out two. The 2016 first-round pick hasn't allowed a run and has seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings this spring.