CHICAGO — As well as lefty Joey Cantillo pitched Monday night, his next start will depend on the the condition of the blister on the middle finger of Alex Cobb’s right hand.
Cantillo retired 20 straight White Sox before losing his perfect game on a two-out single in the seventh inning by Andrew Benintendi. His next scheduled start will be Saturday against the Rays at Progressive Field, but if Cobb’s blister is subdued by then, the start could go to the veteran right-hander.
“With the uncertainty of Cobb, we need to keep Joey here,” said manager Stephen Vogt. “We’re going day to day with Cobb. Right now Joey is in line to start Saturday. If Cobb can come back, we’ll figure that out.”
Vogt said Cobb has been throwing weighted balls to keep his arm ready.
“He’s progressing really well,” said Vogt.
Cobb is also leading the clubhouse in frustration.
“He’s beside himself right now that this thing is lingering,” said Vogt. “He’s frustrated and he also feel for what it’s doing to the rotation. Those are his words. He wants to pitch.
“The medical staff has been awesome with him. It’s looking better, but it’s just not quite ready.”
There are no roster moves or injuries that take place in a vacuum
With the uncertainty of when Cobb will be available, the Guardians added Cantillo from Class AAA Columbus to strart Monday. Since they were carrying six starters, including Cobb, one of the ramifications was that reliever Scott Barlow was designated for assignment Sunday when the team was in Los Angeles.
“It was excruciating,” said Chris Antonetti, president of baseball operations, when asked about giving Barlow the bad news. “This is a guy who had universal respect as a teammate and leader throughout the clubhouse. We just got into a position where we had to make a move.”
It started on Saturday when Gavin Williams lasted just two-thirds of an inning against the Dodgers. Vogt used five relievers to cover the rest of the game. On Sunday, Barlow was DFA’d and lefty Anthony Gose was re-signed for bullpen protection.
Barlow, to be frank, had struggled since the All-Star break, but he pitched well for most of the season.
“We have a number of guys in the bullpen who have been throwing really well,” said Antonetti. “It was a really tough choice.”
Eli Morgan was optioned earlier in the year, but he’s pitched well since being recalled on Aug. 4.
“Eli has been pitching great. Erik Sabrowski has only had a few outings, but he’s looked good,” said Antonetti. “And with Sam (Hentges) out, he gives us another lefty.”
Still it was a move that caught many by surprise.
“Scotty was a big part of the bullpen,” said lefty Tim Herrin. “He’d been here all season. He was the most veteran guy to the pen and brought a lot of experience. Everyone hurt to see him go.
“But it’s a business at the end of the day, and we all know stuff like that can happen, but it was tough.”
Support for Venezuela
Guardians players Andres Gimenez, Brayan Rocchio and Pedro Avila have writing on their game caps to show support for the opposition party in their home country of Venezuela. The country has been divided after the presidential election in July.
Nicolas Maduro stayed in power, but the opposition party believes Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won the election. The U.S. has recognized Urrutia as the winner. But Urrutia has fled to Spain after an arrest warrant was issued for him in Venezuela.
In the clutch
In their last four games through Monday, the Guardians are 1 for 34 with runners in scoring position. The fact that they split those four games was due to good pitch and their ability to hit home runs.
On Monday, David Fry and Bo Naylor homered in a 5-3 win over the White Sox.
In Cleveland’s 3-1 win over the Dodgers on Friday night, Gimenez hit a two-run homer and Rocchio homered with the bases empty.
They Guardians are seven games into this nine-game trip and are hitting .092 (5 for 54) with runners in scoring position. They are 4-3 on the trip against the Royals, Dodgers and White Sox.
Finally
The Guardians stole five bases on Monday, one shy of their season high of six on March 20 against the A’s. . .Two of the steals belonged to catcher Bo Naylor, who also homered. He is just the second catcher to homer and steal two or more bases in the same game in franchise history. Luke Sewell homered and stole two bases against the Yankees on July 14, 1932.
