One night after burning through eight pitchers in a 13-inning walk-off loss, the Chicago White Sox blundered their way into another pitching conundrum. They made one mound visit too many to rookie Noah Schultz, forcing their starter to leave Friday’s game against the Cleveland Guardians after recording only one out.No one was warming in the bullpen when White Sox manager Will Venable walked onto the field after Schultz gave up a two-run single in the first inning. But because the White Sox had already sent pitching coach Zach Bove to speak with their 22-year-old lefty following a hit-by-pitch, major-league rules dictated they needed to make a pitching change.Momentary confusion ensued and umpires conferred. As right-hander David Sandlin scrambled to get loose in the bullpen, it was announced that Schultz needed to depart. He had faced five batters and thrown 23 pitches. Sandlin, also a rookie, escaped the inherited jam by retiring two batters with five pitches.
Members of a coaching staff, including the manager, can make only one mound visit per pitcher per inning before being required to remove that pitcher from the game. If a pitcher receives multiple visits in the same inning, the pitcher must exit.The weekend series carries significant implications in the muddled American League Central. The White Sox, coming off a taxing sweep by the Boston Red Sox, entered Friday with a three-game lead in the division. The Minnesota Twins and the Guardians, who have lost 11 of their past 14 games, were tied for second place as of Thursday, while the Detroit Tigers were one-half game behind them.Venable, a former big-league outfielder, bench coach and associate manager, is in his second year managing the White Sox. Bove joined his staff in November after serving as an assistant pitching coach for the Kansas City Royals.Chicago’s miscommunication Friday resembled a mistake made three years ago by the Toronto Blue Jays. Manager John Schneider paid a sixth-inning visit to starter Alek Manoah on May 20, 2023, not long after pitching coach Pete Walker had made the same walk.“I f—-d up,” Schneider told reporters after the game. “But I think, regardless of my f—up, it was the right time to get him out.”The White Sox saw a similar situation during Ozzie Guillen’s years at the helm. According to veteran Chicago Sports Network reporter Chuck Garfien, Guillen once doubled up mound visits to Javier Vazquez because he missed that pitching coach Don Cooper spoke to the pitcher while he had been in the bathroom. Garfien wrote in a social media post that it was Vazquez who informed Guillen he would no longer be able to pitch.
