Gamethread: White Sox at Indians

Remember recently, when the Chicago White Sox were temporarily not in last place, “overtaken” by the Kansas City Royals? It happened quickly, so don’t kick yourself for missing it. Besides, the White Sox are well ensconced in last place in the AL Central once more and are the worst team in baseball (trailing Baltimore by .001 in winning percentage despite being a half-game better than the O’s).

The White Sox are still on pace for the worst season in franchise history, lining up for a 52-110 season (one game worse than 1932).

And yet, the White Sox open their first action against “first place” Cleveland (26-25) trailing them by just 9 ¹⁄₂ games. Chicago has stared steely into bigger deficits before.

If only the White Sox had come up with a great, rallying cry of a Twitter hashtag, like #EverybodyIn or #RalllyTogether. Oh well, the front office is probably trotting out some social media youngsters who are just getting their feet wet at Winston-Salem or Kannapolis. We’ll get our hashtag game rolling soon, people.

Before the game, the White Sox put Matt Davidson on the DL with a balky back, calling up spring training sweetheart Matt Skole. The team also DFA’d Ricardo Pinto. The deets:

CLEVELAND – Prior to this afternoon’s game at Cleveland, the Chicago White Sox placed infielder Matt Davidson on the disabled list (retroactive to May 25) with back spasms, purchased the contract of infielder Matt Skole from Class AAA Charlotte and designated right-handed pitcher Ricardo Pinto for assignment.

Skole, 28, is hitting .259 (38-147) with 12 doubles, five home runs, 15 RBI, 22 walks and a .360 on-base percentage in 42 games with Charlotte this season. He has appeared in 21 games as the designated hitter, 15 at first base and six at third. Skole has hit safely in seven of his last eight games with the Knights, going 10-31 (.323) with three doubles, two home runs and five RBI.

A 6-foot-4, 220-pound native of Woodstock, Ga., Skole signed with the White Sox as a minor-league free agent on January 22. The left-handed hitting Skole has no major-league experience and will wear uniform No. 41. He entered the 2017 season rated by Baseball America as the Best Power Hitter in the Washington organization, and won a Rawlings Minor League Gold Glove at first base in 2016.

Skole is a career .253 hitter (632-2,500) with 156 doubles, 107 homers, 428 RBI and a .359 on-base percentage in 712 games over eight minor-league seasons in the Washington (2011-17) and Chicago (2018) organizations. He originally was selected by the Nationals in the fifth round of the 2011 First-Year Player Draft.

Davidson, 27, has not played since May 22 vs. Baltimore due to the back spasms. He is hitting .243 (34-140) with six doubles, 11 home runs and 28 RBI over 42 games this season. His 11 homers are tied for 12th in the American League.

Pinto, 24, has made seven combined appearances (four starts) between Charlotte and Class A Winston-Salem this year, going 1-1 with a 7.40 ERA (17 ER/20.2 IP) and 17 strikeouts. Pinto was acquired from Philadelphia in exchange for international signing bonus pool money on March 28.

The White Sox 40-man roster remains at 40.

After eight seasons in the minor leagues and 712 games (288 at Triple-A), Skole makes his major league debut today!

Lineups for today’s tilt, in the House that Flo Built: