Gamethread: Rangers at White Sox

We have a visual! The White Sox are back on TV this afternoon at Camelback Ranch, hosting the Texas Rangers at 2:05 PM CT in their eighth Spring Training contest. The Rangers send their 2022 ace (and 2023 #3 or #4 starter) Martín Pérez to the hill for his final tune-up outing before departing to represent his native Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic, while the White Sox counter with offseason minor league signing Jesse Scholtens, who allowed one run in two innings while striking out three in his spring debut.

Pérez is playing the 2023 season on an accepted qualifying offer after posting an outstanding 2.89 ERA over 196 ¹⁄₃ innings (32 starts) in his second stint with the Rangers last year. Pérez, Marcus Semien, and Corey Seager combined for 15 WAR last season in spite of Texas’s 94 losses, and they’re joined by former top prospect Josh Jung and former division friend Mitch Garver representing the core of their regular season lineup today.

On the White Sox side, Oscar Colás finds his way into the starting lineup after recording a double and a stolen base yesterday, making it hits in five of seven appearances in 2023. Andrew Benintendi continues to hit third, which is something I frankly hope I won’t be talking about this time next month.

Love it when it’s March 4 and the manager is talking like he’s six games back in June. Anyhow, in Scholtens’ first spring outing — also the last game we saw on TV — he was followed on the mound by Reynaldo López, Matt Foster, Sean Burke, Nick Avila, Franklin Germán, and Sammy Peralta. Based on the available pitchers on the lineup card, it appears we might be not be in line to see many major leaguers on the hill this afternoon.

First pitch coming up soon!