The Chicago White Sox are in the early stages of playing 17 games in 17 days.
Tuesday’s game against the Kansas City Royals at Rate Field marked day five during the stretch.
From a pitching standpoint, Ethan Katz said the key to navigating this type of span is “trying to make sure guys are rested.”
“The starters going five, six innings, that’s going to be huge for us, the way the bullpen’s been worked,” the pitching coach said on Sunday. “But really trying to monitor their workload and be cautious of how they’re feeling day to day and fight through each day.”
A performance like Shane Smith had on Monday helped. The right-hander allowed one hit over a career-high seven innings in a 7-0 victory against the Kansas City Royals at Rate Field. Smith and reliever Tyler Gilbert, who pitched the final two innings, combined to limit the Royals to two hits.
“They’ve been really good with my innings and my pitch counts since the start of the year,” Smith said after the 80-pitch outing. “Making sure you’re doing everything behind the scenes in the weight room and training room and all that stuff. Making sure you’re ready every five, six days, whatever it is.”
The rookie Smith is at 114 innings this season.
“Shane had the little time on the (injured list), so he’s in a good spot from an innings standpoint,” Katz said. “Davis (Martin) had his time (on the injured list), too. (Aaron) Civale’s a veteran. (Yoendrys) Gómez is just getting back to it.
“We feel good where everybody’s at. There’s no real restrictions. It’s more about how they feel and monitoring it that way.”
Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Shane Smith throws against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning of a baseball game Monday, Aug. 25, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
The rotation has gone through some changes this month after the Sox optioned starters Jonathan Cannon and Sean Burke to Triple-A Charlotte. Katz continues to monitor their progress.
“Jonathan had a nice outing (Saturday, allowing one run on five hits in 6 1/3 innings against Norfolk),” Katz said. “Obviously, when they got sent down, we gave them a road map of what we were trying to accomplish. So far, it’s gone well, from the communication from the people down there. And looking at what Jonathan was able to do (Saturday), a nice step in the right direction.”
Cannon has made three starts since being optioned on Aug. 8. Burke, who was optioned on Aug. 18, has made one start.
“When you go down to the minor leagues, it gives you an opportunity to try some things that you maybe talk about up here that in the moment it’s harder to accomplish because you’re trying to get through an inning and you’re going to stick to what you feel is best, (as opposed to) trying to open up some other avenues,” Katz said. “Particularly, those two guys were seeing a lot of left-handed lineups.
“How do we want to attack those left-handed hitters? For Jonathan, it’s trying to get a little more up-and-in with some of those lefties to open up his changeup a little bit more and getting his breaking ball down under. Sean, trying to trust his changeup and using his slider a little bit more, because he became a little bit fastball-curveball heavy with the lefties. It’s trying to accomplish that.”
Katz continued: “When you’re here, you’ve got a runner on first and second, you’re having success one way. But to be able to pitch deeper and navigate through a lineup and get through innings the right way, you’re going to have to use all four pitches, the life of a starter. So trying to get them to maximize their full arsenals.”
Chicago White Sox catcher Edgar Quero, left, celebrates with relief pitcher Wikelman González, right, after their team defeated the Minnesota Twins in Chicago on Sunday, Aug. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
The Sox will dip into the minors in the coming days when rosters expand from 26 to 28 players with two September callups.
If the Sox go the pitching route, how they utilize the spots could depend on where they’re at workload-wise during this long string of consecutive games.
“Seventeen straight, 10 at home and then you’re playing some high-caliber teams,” Katz said. “Really, from the standpoint we’re at right now, it’s just trying to see where we’re at and make sure our relievers are not getting run into the ground. They have done so much for us.
“Just monitoring their workload because of how late we are in the season, they’ve thrown the second-most innings in baseball (523 1/3 entering Tuesday). They’ve been crushing it and they’ve been doing their best to keep us in games. Kudos to them for what they’ve done, but we’ve just got to make sure they’re taken care of. So, innings might help.”
Originally Published: August 26, 2025 at 6:50 PM CDT