PEORIA, Ariz. — White Sox right-hander Michael Soroka delivered another impressive start Saturday against the Padres. He was pleased with his stuff, though it took 20 pitches for him to find his groove.
“The thing we made sure of doing was to go back to the changeup a couple of times in the third inning,” Soroka said. ''I was happy with how the one to [Jake] Cronenworth was thrown. We sequenced a couple of hitters extremely well. In the second and third innings, it was kind of what we wanted to do.”
Soroka pitched three innings, striking out five and allowing two hits and one run, in his second Cactus League start.
“In the first inning, I was just a little excited again, not letting my lower half take me all the way down before I decided it was time to get on it,” Soroka said. “You could see that with the shape of everything; everything was kind of flat, backing up.”
Sheets’ hitting improvement
The 2023 season was a year to forget for first baseman/right fielder Gavin Sheets. His batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage were all career lows. Sheets entered the offseason knowing he had to make changes.
“I’ve been staying aggressive [at the plate], staying offensive, so that was something I worked on this offseason,” Sheets, 27, told the Sun-Times. “I got away from that last year.”
Sheets is batting .280/.379/.600 in the Cactus League. With the caveat that it’s only spring training, he said it’s still encouraging to see his offseason work transfer over. He has taken a less-is-more approach at the plate.
“Just getting a swing I feel confident with, where when I get in the box, and I have a confident swing, it’s me vs. the pitcher,” Sheets said. “Last year, I got too mechanical and was worrying too much about hand placement and the mechanics of the swing.’’
Crochet’s next steps
Garrett Crochet has been building toward becoming a starter this season after being a reliever throughout his three-year career. Crochet is trying to build into a rhythm but acknowledged that he has to lower his pitch count to make it through multiple innings.
“Getting through three [innings], that’s probably the next step,” Crochet said. “Obviously, pitch count will be a big factor in that. Today, I think I threw 55 pitches in 2⅓ innings. I just can’t have that happen anymore. I’ve got to kind of hone my stuff and be more efficient.”
Soroka said he’s confident Crochet can continue progressing toward becoming a starter because of his athleticism.
Padres 1, White Sox 1
The Sox pitching staff continued to have a strong spring, allowing one run and six hits to the Padres. The offense racked up 11 hits but couldn’t turn those into runs. The Sox (4-11-1) struggled to bring runners home. The Sox had a bases-loaded situation at the top of the fifth but failed to turn it into runs.
• Designated hitter Eloy Jimenez knocked in a run at the top of the fifth inning, continuing his torrid spring.
• Third baseman Yoan Moncada had a three-hit day.
• On Deck: Sox at Giants, 3:10 p.m. Sunday, Scottsdale, Chris Flexen vs. Spencer Howard.
