David Sandlin is back in Chicago for one job: soak up innings. The White Sox recalled him from Triple-A Charlotte and plan to use him as a multi-inning relief option tonight, a move meant to steady a bullpen that needed help fast.
Will Venable said Sandlin should be able to give the club coverage in the pen and could bridge Noah Schultz to the back-end arms. That matters now because the relief group already had to grind through 8 1/3 innings, and Chris Murphy was placed on the injured list with a flexor strain after pitching five times in a seven-game homestand and working both of the last two games in Boston for 41 pitches overall.
The call-up also fits a roster that has been changing by the day. Edgar Quero was sent back from Charlotte to Chicago after Joey Bart fractured the fifth metacarpal in his left hand, and Chris Getz said Bart would be out for over a month. Bart had been brought in as a stopgap after Kyle Teel was hurt, which left the catching picture fluid even before the latest shuffle.
Sandlin is the immediate answer because he has spent most of this season as a starter, but the White Sox need him in a very different role right now. Venable said the club would not have Grant Taylor available, and both Venable and Getz said no one had yet talked about shutting Noah Schultz down, cutting his starts or moving to a six-man rotation. That leaves the White Sox asking one young arm to cover a lot while another’s workload is being managed with Friday night in mind.
If Schultz gets two outs in the first inning on Friday night, he will set a new professional career high in workload. For now, Sandlin looks like the bridge piece, the pitcher expected to hold the middle of the game together until the back end can take over. How long he stays in that bullpen role will depend on whether the White Sox can get through this stretch without forcing another move.
