Marshall making name for self in Sox 'pen
CHICAGO -- Those who are surprised by the success of White Sox reliever Evan Marshall didn¡¯t pay attention to his 2.45 ERA over 11 Cactus League appearances as a non-roster invitee to Spring Training.
But the veteran right-hander has gone another step higher during the regular season, allowing one unearned run over 16 games and 16 1/3 innings pitched entering Friday. Opponents are 4-for-37 against Marshall over his last 12 outings.
¡°I had been cornered into being a sinker guy. Now, it¡¯s more so throwing any pitch at any time in any count and all for strikes,¡± Marshall said. ¡°Last night, I fell behind [Yankees third baseman DJ] LeMahieu, 2-0, guy on first, great hitter at the plate. I came back with the 2-0 changeup and got the soft contact. That¡¯s how you go from allowing that inning to become something big and dangerous. You can get out of the bad count and escape right there. It¡¯s little things like that. I¡¯ve had good command. I don¡¯t give guys free passes.
¡°More times than not, when you go out and hit the glove, whether it¡¯s the right pitch or not, it works out well for the pitcher. Right now, things are going well. Defense is playing great. I just like to feed my defense.¡±
Marshall has settled into a setup role with Aaron Bummer and Kelvin Herrera ahead of closer Alex Colome. Those late-inning responsibilities feed perfectly into his approach, per Marshall.
¡°Late in the game like that with guys on base, you got guys that want to hit a homer, drive guys in, and that type of aggressiveness leads guys to expand their zone a little bit,¡± Marshall said. ¡°I like to throw a lot of stuff that starts out a strike and becomes a ball and get swings out of the zone.
¡°Early in the count I¡¯m trying to get strike one. But after that, I¡¯m trying to take advantage of them and their aggressiveness.¡±
White Sox announce Draft signings
The White Sox agreed to terms with 29 of their 40 picks from the 2019 Draft, including seven of their top 10.
Missing from that list are first baseman Andrew Vaughn, the team¡¯s top pick out of Cal at No. 3 overall, second-round selection Matthew Thompson and third-round selection Andrew Dalquist. Thompson and Dalquist are right-handed pitchers taken out of high school with the expectation of being over-slot signees, but Vaughn and these two hurlers are expected to sign soon.
Outfielder James Beard, considered one of the fastest players in the Draft, was the highest pick announced Friday as the White Sox fourth-rounder. The White Sox also agreed to terms with undrafted free agents Allan Beer, a right-handed pitcher from Bradley University, and Vlad Nunez, a right-hander from Stetson University.
Rookie-level Great Falls was scheduled to play its season opener Friday vs. Missoula. The Rookie-level Arizona White Sox open their season on Monday, June 17 at the AZL Mariners.
Third to first
White Sox manager Rick Renteria announced Ivan Nova and Lucas Giolito as the team¡¯s starters against the Cubs on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
Yoan Moncada missed his third straight game with a back strain. The hope is the third baseman can return at some point this weekend.
Crowds of 30,000-plus were expected for all three weekend games against New York at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Ed Farmer, who handles play-by-play on White Sox radio broadcasts, will miss the remainder of this series as well as games at Wrigley Field next week due to personal matters. Andy Masur will fill in for Farmer.
They said it
¡°Last night was a huge win. Sometimes you see the flashes of greatness from this team. Then it¡¯s all about finding the way to repeat.¡± -- Marshall
¡°You can¡¯t give a person confidence. They¡¯ve got to have it. And I think he¡¯s taken advantage of everything he¡¯s been doing and learning and adjusting.¡± -- Renteria, on Giolito