White Sox to give Gonzalez rotation spot

ARLINGTON — Miguel Gonzalez is officially the White Sox fifth starter, at least for now, after his solid performance over 5 2/3 innings in a no-decision against the Rangers on Monday.

Manager Robin Ventura and general manager Rick Hahn said on Tuesday that Gonzalez, who has a 4.91 ERA over 11 innings in two starts for Chicago, has won the job, though the role is “still fluid,” in Hahn’s words. Gonzalez also pitched well in four starts for Triple-A Charlotte, going 1-0 with a 2.65 ERA in 17 innings.

“With Miguel’s performance both in Charlotte and what he did yesterday, he’s going to get a few opportunities here, probably in a row,” Hahn said. “Quite frankly, we’ve asked a lot of Miguel, bringing him up for a spot start against a really good hitting team in Toronto, and then 10 or 12 days later bringing him back against another difficult offensive team in their home park [on Monday]. I think he showed himself well both times, so he’s earned the right to get a little bit of stability and a little bit of repetition in that spot.”

Ventura said Gonzalez’s outing Monday was basically an audition for the fifth-starter role, and the 31-year-old former Oriole passed. Gonzalez has thrown 65.9 percent of his pitches for strikes in his two White Sox starts this season, and has struck out 10.

“It wasn’t like you go out and tell him you’re pitching for another opportunity, but yeah, if he goes out and it doesn’t look good and he’s walking guys all over the place, that would be something that would definitely come up,” Ventura said. “For him, we look at he’s had two tough lineups, both on the road. I think he’s done a great job of being able to control that. … I think he earned …

continue reading in source mlb.mlb.com