Following the 7-1 loss to Texas on Sunday, the White Sox still seemed to be sending out mixed messages on the immediate future of pitcher Jose Contreras, who just lost his starting job in the rotation to left-hander Clayton Richard.
"I don't know yet," manager Ozzie Guillen said after the finale against the Rangers. "Jose will probably make the trip to Cleveland with us and then we'll make the decision there." Meanwhile, pitching coach Don Cooper was sending a different message, telling WSCR-AM (670) that Contreras was headed to the minor leagues to try and fix his control consistencies.
"He understands the situation," Cooper said.
The frustration is that Contreras feels 100 percent physically.
"I feel fine," Contreras said. "In spring training, most of the things I did were for conditioning for the ankle (his torn Achilles' tendon). Now I have to pitch. I have to get a feel for the forkball again and throw strikes. There's nothing wrong physically." Contreras is 0-5 with an 8.19 ERA in six games, forcing a decision on his spot in the rotation. For now, Richard will come out of the bullpen and replace Contreras on Wednesday in Cleveland.
"He's our future and will be a starter in a few years," Guillen said of Richard. "He's the best we have in the bullpen right now for the job and I like lefties against Cleveland."
Richard, 25, has been a starter through his career, including making eight starts last season in his first call-up with the team.
"Good deal," Richard said when told he would start Wednesday. "Coming up last year and my whole career has been starting, I'm comfortable with that role. Any time you get an opportunity, you want to make the most of it and hopefully go out there and do what I'm capable of -- but really just put the team in a position to win."
Richard acknowledged the team is hoping to see the popular Contreras rebound.
"His work ethic is second to none, and to see him struggling is tough," he said. "He'll figure it out. It's just a matter of time before he gets it clicking.'"
RANGERS 7, WHITE SOX 1: The Sox offense continued to disappear, as they scored only one run on two hits in the 7-1 loss to Texas on Sunday, as well as losing the rubber game of the series. Chris Getz and Carlos Quentin were the only Sox players to record hits.
With the offense in a rut, Bartolo Colon needed to be perfect to keep the Sox above water, and he wasn't. The right-hander went just 4 2/3 innings allowing five runs on five hits, and allowing two home runs. The loss dropped Colon to 2-3 on the season with a 4.88 ERA.
