There aren’t a lot of current White Sox players who seem assured of sticking around till the next window of contention, but Jonathan Cannon looks like one of those keepers.
The 6-6 right-hander figures to be part of the team’s rotation of the future after allowing one run or fewer in six of his 15 starts in his rookie season.
Sunday was not one of those, as Cannon (2-8) didn’t get out of the fifth inning of a 9-4 loss to the Tigers.
He threw 93 pitches, allowing eight hits and five earned runs with four strikeouts and four walks.
But interim manager Grady Sizemore said Cannon has earned the benefit of the doubt.
“When you’re falling behind, it makes it hard,” Sizemore said. “He fought hard, kept us in the game. But he definitely didn’t have his best stuff, wasn’t as sharp.
“It’s going to happen. He’s been throwing so good for us, I’m not surprised [by] one outing where he just didn’t have a feel for everything.”
While the Sox are carefully monitoring the workload of ace Garrett Crochet in his first season as a starter, there are no similar concerns for Cannon. He’s at 90 2/3 innings this season, still shy of the 121 he threw last year in his first full pro season.
“I feel good,” he said. “Body feels good, arm felt good today. The velo’s been fine for the year. It’s just about learning from this one and moving on.
“I didn’t feel like the stuff was bad, I just didn’t have great command of it. Fell behind in a lot of counts, had to work out of some jams early. Then just a couple of seeing-eye singles in the fifth and a walk, that ended up doing it for me.”
Wait and see
Will Sox fans get to see more of the team’s future core players as the season winds down?
It remains to be seen, according to general manager Chris Getz, who is keeping a close eye on shortstop Colson Montgomery and catcher Edgar Quero at Triple-A Charlotte.
No decision has been made yet on whether Montgomery will be promoted when rosters expand in September, Getz said during his most recent media availability on Friday.
“He’s still working hard down in Charlotte,” Getz said. “We’re still looking for a little bit more consistency in the bat, There have been some positive signs along the way, but most importantly we have to make sure he is foundationally in a good spot before we challenge him at the major-league level.”
Montgomery was slashing .210/.328/.375 with 14 homers and 50 RBI through 106 games with the Knights.
Quero is slashing .284/.372/.473 in 95 games split between Double-A Birmingham and Charlotte. He’s been sidelined by an ailing back but is expected to return to action soon, Getz said.
“He’s a switch-hitter so you want to make sure he feels strong on both sides and certainly when he’s squatting behind the plate,” Getz said. “He’s had a tremendous year. He’s a big part of our future so we’re certainly not going to push him to the point where we put him in harm’s way … to help our major-league club or anything like that.”
This and that
The Sox have lost 48 games after leading and 37 games when scoring first. Both are the most in MLB.
• Sunday was the fourth anniversary of Lucas Giolito’s no-hitter against the visiting Pirates. Giolito is now with the Red Sox and will miss the entire season after having elbow surgery.