Floyd could return to Sox rotation by Wednesday

White Sox starter Gavin Floyd could be in the rotation again as soon as Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers.

The right-hander who has missed time with a right elbow flexor strain threw well enough Sunday in a bullpen session to put him back in the rotation picture, pitching coach Don Cooper said.

“Floyd looked fine. We mixed in all of his pitches,” he said of Floyd’s third side session since going on the disabled list Aug. 28. “He felt good. It’s not pain right now. He threw well and now we’re going to discuss where and when we feel it’s best to insert him.

“It could be as quick as Wednesday if we want to,” he said. “But again, we’re not there yet. We haven’t really discussed it. We were really waiting to see how it went today. There’s no immediate necessity to name it today.”

The four-game series against the Tigers starting today has Jose Quintana facing Rick Porcello and Jake Peavy going against Doug Fister Tuesday.

Francisco Liriano is scheduled for the Sox Wednesday against Max Scherzer, but that would be the one opening in the series for Floyd. Staff ace Chris Sale is set for Thursday against Tigers ace Justin Verlander.

Floyd said he felt “a lot better” Sunday in the session throwing about 50 pitches, including curve balls for the first time.

“A couple times we stopped and it felt…abnormal,” he said, but added the session overall was fine.

Floyd hasn’t pitched since Aug. 26 when he left a game against Seattle after two innings. He had been on the disabled list in July for tendinitis in the same elbow. But MRI exams have shown no structural problems with his elbow.

Floyd wouldn’t be expected to pitch deep into a game yet. “We want length from our starters, but we’ll take six good [innings] because we’ve got a full bullpen,” Cooper said. “We’ve got guys out there who we have confidence in, and we’re just looking for the starters to give us a chance to win the game. That’s all we’ve ever been looking for for 11 or 12 years here. Anything more than six or seven is a bonus.

“We’re going to play it by ear,” he said, adding Floyd wouldn’t be “replacing anybody. We have a lot of options right now and we’ll weight them all.”

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