After acquiring Francisco Liriano from the Minnesota Twins just over one week ago, the White Sox announced their plans to go with a six-man rotation.
That idea didn't last long.
In an interview with WSCR 670 The Score, White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper made it clear that the team is going back to the normal five-man rotation.
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I think the answer to it is now that were back to a five-man, for our starters to go a little bit longer, Cooper told The Score. We have Chris Sale Monday. Hes had nine days off because were looking to take care of him. We dont want him to get hurt. Same thing with Quintana. Peavy, Floyd, Liriano, theyre pretty much free to give us whatever they can give us.
The odd man out is Philip Humber, who will now serve as the long guy in the bullpen. Although, Cooper acknowledged that the Sox will "keep our eyes open," should the need arise to move Humber back into a starter's role again.
Humber has struggled since throwing his perfect game in Seattle on April 21. In 14 starts, he's gone 4-5 with a 7.21 ERA and opponents are hitting .297 against him. In 73 23 innings he's allowed 19 home runs, 90 hits and walked 35 batters.
Deciding to put an extra arm in the bullpen should also ease the workload of the White Sox relief pitchers.
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The reasons why were going to the bullpen a lot - with Thornton, with Myers, with Crain, with Reed and Nate Jones -- is because weve got a lot of what I call nut-cutting games, Cooper said. These things are close every day. Theyre very, very difficult, high intensity, high anxiety games.