CLEVELAND — Will Venable said Monday that he would “be shocked” if Tommy Pham returned from his calf strain to play in this week’s series in Cleveland. As recently as postgame Tuesday, the 38-year-old veteran still needed to run the bases in front of training staff to get medical clearance to return for this weekend’s series hosting the Detroit Tigers.
Then Pham ran intoWhite Sox general manager Chris Getz in the elevator of the team hotel and stated his case. Roughly 12 hours later, he was activated and slotted into the cleanup spot for the team’s biggest game of the season to date. Edgar Quero was optioned as the corresponding move.
“I went right to the source,” Pham said. “I felt like I could help the team win today.”
The Sox weren’t up to the task of holding off Cleveland from taking over first place in the American League Central, losing 6-3, but not because Pham was wrong.
After spending his morning running the bases to secure medical clearance, Pham pounced on a first-pitch curveball from Guardians ace left-hander Parker Messick for a go-ahead three-run bomb to left that momentarily electrified the White Sox dugout, and briefly silenced Progressive Field.
He might have convinced Getz he’s ready for action, but Pham’s calf is not fully healed.
“I’m going to be treating it for about another week, so I’m just glad I’m able to play again,” Pham said postgame.”
Mune benched, until Colson was hurt
Technically, whatVenable contended postgame Tuesday after Munetaka Murakami went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts, is that changing his place in the batting order wouldn’t “magically fix his swing.”
So instead, Murakami–5-for-52 with 31 strikeouts in September–was out of the lineup entirely on Wednesday.
“Just truthfully give him a blow,” Venable said of the move. “As we did similarly with Colson [Montgomery on Tuesday] where these guys who are in spots where they’re continuing to work really hard and it’s just not coming out on the field. I know there’s a little bit of frustration there.”
But in Wednesday’s fourth inning, a 95 mph sinker from Messick that struck Montgomery in the left wrist wound up altering plans. Montgomery stayed in for a defensive inning before departing the game with a contusion, and the team said x-rays on his left wrist came back negative.
“He wasn’t able to swing the bat,” Venable said of Montgomery’s wrist pain.
The White Sox are terming Montgomery’s status as day-to-day, and Murakami was pulled off the bench in the defensive rotation that resulted. Murakami went 0-for-1 with a walk.
Thorpe no longer an option
Having exhausted the timeline for his rehab assignment for Tommy John surgery recovery, the White Sox optioned right-hander Drew Thorpe to Triple-A on Wednesday. Thorpe, who possesses a great changeup but a below-average fastball, has made six rehab starts with the Charlotte Knights (2.79 ERA in 29 innings).
With 10 games left after Wednesday and options requiring a 15-day stay in the minors, the move takes Thorpe out of consideration for a major league call-up for the rest of the season.
“So proud of him for his journey and the way that he’s progressed,” said Venable of Thorpe, who has not pitched in the majors since 2024. “There’s just not an opportunity here right now for him.”