Scott Carroll is here to bail out an overtaxed White Sox bullpen.
And perhaps find his stolen car.
The pitcher returned to the White Sox on Wednesday after he was promoted from Triple-A Charlotte, about 10 days later than he originally hoped. In the interim, Carroll -- who has a 3.41 ERA in 29 innings in the majors and a 3.47 ERA in 83 innings at Charlotte -- returned to Chicago on Sept. 8 to discover his sports-utility vehicle had been stolen from Wicker Park. Carroll left the car in Chicago this summer and planned to drive it around town this month or return home to Kansas City after Charlotte’s season ended on Sept. 6.
“So that was disheartening to come back to,” Carroll said. “I have been dealing with that, but I made my way back to Kansas City safe and sound.
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“Stolen near Wicker Park off of Damen Avenue, so if anyone knows of a Cadillac Escalade driving around there, that would help out. I was gone in Charlotte the whole time, and it was stolen while I was gone. I came back to get my stuff and drive back home, and it was gone.”
Carroll had also been disappointed to discover his 2015 season was done until Wednesday’s promotion. In between calls to the city of Chicago to see if his car had been towed (it wasn’t), Carroll played catch with friends at home just in case the White Sox required his services.
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The call arrived came on Wednesday morning after a pair of three-inning starts by Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija were sandwiched around a 14-inning game on Monday. With his relievers running on fumes, White Sox manager Robin Ventura elected to pitch Leury Garcia and Alexei Ramirez in Tuesday’s game, the first time the White Sox have used two position players on the mound in a game since 1902.
Though he hasn’t pitched since Sept. 3, Carroll believes he’s stretched out enough to go four or five innings if needed.
“I was absolutely anticipating I was coming back,” Carroll said. “I was disappointed to hear I wasn’t the first wave of people to be called up. But it’s part of the business, and obviously I’m glad to be back and help the team out any way I can.”