Alright, woke up this morning to see who is scheduled to start the next three games against the Cubs. Right now, it’s Castillo going tonight and then two TBDs listed for Tuesday & Wednesday. Who do we think those TBDs will end up being?

Here are the main options:

1. Urquidy - He last pitched this past Friday giving up 3 ER in 3.2 IP. If he pitches on Wednesday, he’d be on four days rest. Right now, I’m not sure they can send him down without exposing him to waivers, so my guess is he’s locked in for getting at least one more start.

2. Fedde - He last pitched this past Thursday in relief of Martin giving up 4 ER in 3 IP. He could be an option for Tuesday or Wednesday going on 4 days rest or 5 days rest respectively. It’s also very possible he’s just a piggyback option for someone else or part of a broader bullpen day strategy.

3. Bullpen - Speaking of which, this is also a very realistic possibility. Schweitzer & Richards haven’t pitched since last Thursday and each could give you two or three IP. If Fedde doesn’t piggyback, he could also give you a couple. It would be a low frills plan, but I could them making if they don’t mind the optics of it happening during a big series for the fans.

4. Thorpe - He last pitched this past Wednesday making his first start of the season in AAA going 5 IP with just 1 ER, 6 K, & 0 BB. As such, he’s option for either day and Venable recently brought him up, so I think he’s a central part of the rest of season roadmap. I’m just skeptical they do it for this series. Feels like one more start in Charlotte and then being called up for Sunday’s game is more likely. He will also require a roster move, both to the 40 man and 26 man roster, in order to be added.

5. Shane Smith - He last pitched last Thursday in AAA going 6 IP with 1 ER, 5 K, & 1 BB. It was his best start in a while, but hard to ignore the rest of his struggles after just one good start. And like with Thorpe, is this the environment you want to bring him into when returning to the majors? That being said, he would be on four & five days rest if they wanted to with him, so he’s certainly an option.

6. Schultz - He last pitched the past this past Friday going 4 IP with just 1 ER but also with no K’s or BB’s. He’d be on four days rest for the Wednesday game, so certainly an option, but seems like an unlikely one to me. He’s got a lot of stuff to work through and I think a low stress AAA environment is ideal for him. He’s also getting close to an innings limit, so calling him up and forcing another 26 man roster move for someone who may not be able to stick through September seems unlikely to me.

Two other considerations that could factor in where. First, rosters will expand in roughly two weeks. However, you can only add two additional players and only one can be a pitcher. Calling up Thorpe, Shane, or Noah will require a pitcher to be sent down and there aren’t many options there. You are really looking at Schweitzer and Hagen if you need to temporarily free up a spot.

Second, guys can only be optioned 5 times in a season now. This is important to highlight since Schweitzer has already been sent down 4 times I believe. If that’s correct, if we send him down again, he’s stuck at AAA the rest season. For a team operating on pitching fumes, it would be tough to have a guy on the 40 man who can’t contribute down the stretch. At the same time, Hagen has looked pretty good and is much more likely to be a postseason weapon than Schweitzer. If so, you got to keep giving Hagen major leagues reps ahead of October.

If we can get Castillo to go minimum of 6 today and win this game then you can piece together Tuesday and Wednesday.

I would bring up Shane Smith to pitch Tuesday or Wednesday. To me Thorpe needs to pitch more in the minors and get himself stretched out. I would not consider him until September call ups.

It's time for Shane Smith to s%*# or get off the pot.

In regards to the pen for today, you have a rested Richards (he may need to pitch in high leverage), Hicks should be good to go. If you can get 6 from Castillo then Richards gets 7 and 8 and Hicks gets 9th.

That way you rest the other guys.

6 minutes ago, 2Deep said:

If we can get Castillo to go minimum of 6 today and win this game then you can piece together Tuesday and Wednesday.

I would bring up Shane Smith to pitch Tuesday or Wednesday. To me Thorpe needs to pitch more in the minors and get himself stretched out. I would not consider him until September call ups.

It's time for Shane Smith to s%*# or get off the pot.

In regards to the pen for today, you have a rested Richards (he may need to pitch in high leverage), Hicks should be good to go. If you can get 6 from Castillo then Richards gets 7 and 8 and Hicks gets 9th.

That way you rest the other guys.

Man, dude has been absolutely shitty outside of his last start. This is a foolish wish and I hope the Sox aren’t leaning this way

Urquidy + Fedde Tuesday. Dfa whoever pitches worse. Call-up Thorpe Wednesday. Hating dragging Thorpe back in like this but not many options.

The issue with Thorpe is he’s maxed out at 75 pitches so far. I’m guessing they are targeting around 85 or so for his next start and then 100 thereafter. That’s still probably more than what some of the relievers are going to give you, but I could also see them wanting him to achieve that pitch count target no matter the outcome of the game (which isn’t feasible if with the Sox).

How much time does Thorpe have left on his rehab assignment?

Edited 43 minutes ago43 min by Bob Sacamano

Fedde was a serviceable 5th starter type all year - not sure why he's such an afterthought now, especially since sending Schultz down means there's an open spot in the rotation. I'd start Fedde on Tuesday and hope he goes as deep as possible; start Urquidy or Thorpe on Wednesday and do the same.

1 minute ago, 35thstreetswarm said:

Fedde was a serviceable 5th starter type all year - not sure why he's such an afterthought now, especially since sending Schultz down means there's an open spot in the rotation. I'd start Fedde on Tuesday and hope he goes as deep as possible; start Urquidy or Thorpe on Wednesday and do the same.

Gotta open a 40-man spot for Thorpe as well (though, they could just DFA Gilbert or someone),

Here are my guesses at the pitching plan for the rest of the week:

• Mon: Castillo vs. Cubs

• Tue: Schweitzer/Fedde vs. Cubs

• Wed: Urquidy vs. Cubs

• Thu: Kay vs. Braves

• Fri: Burke vs. Mets

• Sat: Castillo vs. Mets

• Sun: Thorpe vs. Mets

Weakest man bumped for Thorpe. Sandlin or Shane because options on Sep 1st when rosters expand. Schultz not part of the major league for remainder of year.

6 minutes ago, Bob Sacamano said:

How much time does Thorpe have left on his rehab assignment?

I believe it’s 30 days, so should be today or tomorrow. But they just have to move him off the 60 day IL for now. He has three options remaining so can wait the 26 man decision out a bit longer.

11 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

The issue with Thorpe is he’s maxed out at 75 pitches so far. I’m guessing they are targeting around 85 or so for his next start and then 100 thereafter. That’s still probably more than what some of the relievers are going to give you, but I could also see them wanting him to achieve that pitch count target no matter the outcome of the game (which isn’t feasible if with the Sox).

That’s pretty much where we are at with everyone after Castillo and Burke, shortened workload and sic the bullpen on them. This is who this team is at this point, there is nobody out there who can rescue them from this starting pitching deficit. We are fully in piecemeal production and we have seen in implemented

3 minutes ago, Chicago White Sox said:

Here are my guesses at the pitching plan for the rest of the week:

• Mon: Castillo vs. Cubs

• Tue: Schweitzer/Fedde vs. Cubs

• Wed: Urquidy vs. Cubs

• Thu: Kay vs. Braves

• Fri: Burke vs. Mets

• Sat: Castillo vs. Mets

• Sun: Thorpe vs. Mets

Weakest man bumped for Thorpe. Sandlin or Shane because options on Sep 1st when rosters expand. Schultz not part of the major league for remainder of year.

Yes, this seems right. Fedde's last real start before they messed with him was a very nice outing, holding the Rays to 1 run in TB in a similar situation (tough road series with question marks up and down the pitching matchups). Let's hope he can recapture that.

13 minutes ago, Kyyle23 said:

That’s pretty much where we are at with everyone after Castillo and Burke, shortened workload and sic the bullpen on them. This is who this team is at this point, there is nobody out there who can rescue them from this starting pitching deficit. We are fully in piecemeal production and we have seen in implemented

Fully agree…I just think they might wait until Sunday to call up Thorpe to both let him get fully stretched in a lower pressure situation and do one final evaluation on some of the arms on the fringe of the roster.

Whether we like it or not I have a strong sense that Shane Smith is going to pitch Tuesday or wednesday. just a hunch!

Imanaga Gausman Holmes