If White Sox left-hander Derek Holland starts laughing to himself on the mound Saturday, don’t worry. He will be reacting to his former Rangers teammates digging into the batter’s box.
‘‘It’s definitely going to be weird,’’ said Holland, 30, who spent eight seasons with the Rangers before signing a one-year deal with the Sox during the offseason. ‘‘Seeing all those guys, it’s going to be hard to keep a straight face.’’
A quality performance would make Holland grin, too. He is 5-7 with a 4.26 ERA in 15 starts and is coming off a strong outing against the Athletics in which he allowed one run in six innings.
Holland said it didn’t take long for him to feel at home with the Sox.
‘‘Just a few days,’’ he said. ‘‘I had [third baseman Todd] Frazier helping me out. I’ve got to give a lot of credit to [pitching coach Don Cooper] and [manager] Rick Renteria for making me be what I am. They wanted me to keep it loose, just be what I’ve been in the past and keep working. They’ve got my back, and it’s been like that since day one.’’
Cooper has helped Holland focus on his full range of pitches.
‘‘It’s definitely different,’’ Holland said. ‘‘I’m using some more off-speed [stuff]. The main thing is I’m still working with my fastball. It’s just not as hard as it was since I was with Texas.
‘‘That’s part of growing up and getting older and maturing, when your pitching is finding ways to get people out.’’
Box-gate
One day after Yankees rookie outfielder Dustin Fowler suffered a gruesome leg injury after running into a fence in foul territory, Sox officials met to discuss the small boxes behind the padding along the left- and right-field lines.
The boxes will stay, Sox vice president of communications Scott Reifert said. They were embedded in the foul-territory fences by Major League Baseball several years ago to improve wireless access for fans.
Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Fowler’s injury might not have been as severe without the boxes. Fowler was carted off the field and had season-ending surgery to repair a ruptured patellar tendon.
Renteria said he felt bad for Fowler. Replays didn’t conclusively show whether he struck the wireless box or the low fence.
‘‘Other ballparks have the same little line of fencing around them,’’ Renteria said. ‘‘I don’t know what else honestly could have been done, other than maybe he slows himself down a little. But you can’t ask an athlete who is totally focused on making a play to change what he’s doing.’’
Sore subject
Outfield prospect Charlie Tilson has encountered yet another injury setback.
The Sox said Tilson was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the navicular bone in his right ankle. He complained about ankle pain while rehabilitating from a foot injury in Arizona.
Tilson, 24, will wear a walking boot for four weeks before being re-evaluated. He tore his left hamstring in his major-league debut last August.
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