There aren’t a lot of White Sox 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.
His outing Sunday was not one of those. Cannon (2-8) didn’t get out of the fifth inning of a 9-4 loss to the Tigers.
He threw 93 pitches, allowed five earned runs and eight hits, struck out four and walked four.
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 ace Garrett Crochet’s workload in his first season as a starter, there are no similar concerns for Cannon. He’s at 90⅔ innings, 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, said general manager Chris Getz, who’s keeping a close eye on shortstop Colson Montgomery and catcher Edgar Quero at Triple-A Charlotte.
No decision has been made on whether Montgomery will be promoted when rosters expand in September, Getz said 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 home runs 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 has been sidelined by an ailing back but is expected to return 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 the majors.Sunday was the fourth anniversary of Lucas Giolito’s no-hitter against the visiting Pirates. Giolito is with the Red Sox but will miss the season after having elbow surgery.