CLEVELAND — The White Sox haven’t had a pitcher work six innings in their last 23 games. So when it comes to assessing whether right-hander David Sandlin will get another chance to start after not allowing an earned run in 5⅔ innings Sunday, manager Will Venable didn’t waste time answering.
‘‘We just take this series by series,’’ Venable said. ‘‘But I would say he has earned another opportunity, for sure. I think that’s safe to say.’’
Beyond the Sox’ immediate need for results in the last 11 regular-season games, Sandlin clearly returned from his latest time at Triple-A Charlotte as a different pitcher. Despite his high-90s velocity and offseason work on a Davis Martin-style kick changeup, Sandlin couldn’t pump four-seamers to major-league hitters without getting hurt and lacked the tools to retire left-handers in his previous stints with the Sox.
‘‘Sat down with [senior adviser to pitching Brian] Bannister in Triple-A . . . right after the All-Star break,’’ Sandlin told the Sun-Times. ‘‘Just talking about introducing [my sweeper] to lefties early in counts, backdooring it. We really hammered that home. It showed success and makes the hitter need to lean out over the plate, and then I can take a shot inside.’’
Combined with tweaking the shape of his cutter to make it harder and shorter to mirror his fastball better, Sandlin has evolved his game in a way many hard-throwers have to accept at the major-league level. Where he once overwhelmed lesser hitters with velocity, now his fastball is a change-of-pace, finishing weapon after he has slowed hitters down with the other parts of his seven-pitch mix.
Schultz up, Urquidy out
Neither right-hander Jose Urquidy nor left-hander Noah Schultz had pitched in the last week, suggesting the former was without a steady role and the latter was getting ready for a call-up. Urquidy was designated for assignment to make room for Schultz, whose newly prescribed multi-inning relief role probably will be better understood after his first outing.
‘‘You’re looking at spots in the game where — we talked about it earlier today — you can envision a time through the order at least,’’ Venable said. ‘‘Kind of a multi-inning weapon.’’
Schultz had a 1.66 ERA in five starts in his latest minor-league stint and is excited about an improved changeup. Mostly, he seems happier to be part of a major-league playoff race than a Triple-A rotation.
‘‘It’s such an important time of the year,’’ Schultz said. ‘‘I’m doing, obviously, whatever I can to help contribute.’’
Colson out of lineup vs. lefty
At this point in his tenure, Venable playing to the platoon advantage is as sure as the sunrise. But left-handed-hitting infielder Colson Montgomery sitting against Guardians lefty Foster Griffin actually went against his season numbers. Montgomery has hit left-handers (.814 OPS) better than right-handers (.668).
Single-season platoon numbers can be pretty variable, though, and the Sox haven’t fully embraced the idea that Montgomery is wired differently.
‘‘I wouldn’t say we look at him as a reverse-split guy, even though I know that’s what his splits are this year,’’ Venable said. ‘‘But definitely more neutral, where we’re not as concerned about matchups with Colson.’’
The bigger issue is that Montgomery, who lined out and struck out after entering the game as a pinch hitter in the sixth inning, went into Tuesday hitting .109/.255/.283 with a 43.6% strikeout rate in September.