White Sox’ early-season pitching decisions still up in the air

GLENDALE, Ariz. — While the White Sox’ offense is flush with lineup possibilities, the pitching side remains a work in progress with three weeks remaining before the start of the season.

Projected No. 1 starter Lucas Giolito just got on the mound in a game Friday. Possible No. 5 starter Gio Gonzalez had soreness in his left shoulder and hasn’t even pitched in a Cactus League game.

Giolito figures to be up to about five innings by the time the season starts, and the Sox will take it. He’s being projected for the Opening Day roster and possibly the opener March 26 at home against the Royals.

Gonzalez’s status is not as certain, although the schedule might offer the Sox some contingency opportunities. Then there is the prospect of cold weather with the earliest home opener in club history.

General manager Rick Hahn was asked if weather would play a part in the team’s roster decisions.

“I’m guessing on March 26, Luis Robert will be cold, just simply because I’m not sure he’s ever played a game below 60 degrees or so,” Hahn said. “You have to keep that in mind.”

It figures to have more of an effect on the pitching.

“Pitching in general, even though you have off days in general and there’s unpredictability with the weather,” Hahn said. “I think in all probability we’ll break [spring camp] with 13 pitchers, just to give us some insulation in the bullpen so we can protect guys and give them the chance to acclimate to regular-season usage.”

That 13-pitcher staff just might include nine relievers. Carrying just four starters is an option the Sox have early with three days off in the first 15 days of the season. They won’t need a fifth starter until the seventh day of the season.

“Early on, with the way the off days are paced, we do have five games in a row at one point, so maybe a bullpen day there,” Hahn said. “We have a couple contingencies in mind, but as we sit here today, both Giolito and Gio Gonzalez are on pace to be part of the Opening Day rotation.”

Giolito made his Cactus League debut against the Cubs, throwing 20 pitches in one inning. He faced four batters, but only because he grazed Kyle Schwarber with a pitch. The right-hander added 10 pitches in the bullpen and is expected to build on that number Wednesday against the Rockies.

“I felt great physically,” Giolito said. “I wasn’t going to go out there and step on the gas 100 percent as far as body-intensity-wise. I was pitching with intensity, but the big thing was kind of feeling things out and making sure I was controlling myself as the game sped up, which I thought I did a pretty good job of.

“So, yeah, I thought the stuff was good, pretty much fastball and a couple of changeups there. We’ll keep working.”

In just his third full season in the major leagues, Giolito is embracing his role as a member of the rotation who can both learn and teach.

“[I’m] having a lot of fun,” Giolito said. “I feel like I’m in a cool spot because we have two pitchers on our staff [Gonzalez and Dallas Keuchel] that have so much more experience and so much more knowledge than I do. So I kind of get to learn from them and then take stuff I’ve learned from my own experiences, stuff I’ve learned from those two guys and then put it all together when I go and talk to a guy like [Dylan] Cease or [Michael] Kopech.

“We’ve been working hard some of these days in the bullpen with some of my tools I like to use. Guys are interested in that.”

So while the youth movement on offense with Yoan Moncada, Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez gets the attention, the pitching staff wants to hold up its end of the bargain. Opening Day decisions remain in limbo, but only to a point.

“We have a plan in place that assuming [Giolito] hits his milestones, he’ll be fine for Opening Day,” Hahn said. “Absolutely not, not with him or anyone else, we’re not forcing anything, especially with a pitcher. Assuming he hits each of the milestones going forward, we should be fine for Opening Day.”