--LHP Clayton Richard was named the new starting pitcher on Sunday, and will make the start on Wednesday in Cleveland, after Jose Contreras was lifted from the rotation following another shaky outing on Friday. "Any time you get an opportunity, you want to make the best of it and give them an opportunity to keep you there," Richard said of the news. "Hopefully, I can go out there and throw well and do what I'm capable of. You just try to put your team in position to get a win." While manager Ozzie Guillen said last week that he hadn't been impressed with Richard out of the bullpen this season, the White Sox are really limited on who else they could choose. "This kid is going to be our future," Guillen said. "This kid is going to be starting in a couple of years. He's the best one in the bullpen right now for that role."
--CFs Brian Anderson (strained right oblique) and Dewayne Wise (separated shoulder) each took steps in returning from the 15-day disabled list over the weekend, as Anderson started to take a few light swings and Wise continued taking cuts in the batting cage, as well as fielding balls in the outside. Anderson is due to come off the DL next weekend, and manager Ozzie Guillen indicated that he will likely need a rehab assignment in a few minor-league games before getting ready to return. As for Wise, he is scheduled to return from the disabled list in early to mid-June. Early indications were that Wise could be back sooner than thought, but he was still feeling tightness in a recent hitting session so he is now backing off a bit on that early date. --Manager Ozzie Guillen was not thrilled that his team has gone 2-6 in their last eight games, and following Sunday's loss to Texas, let them know that they need to wake up before the season gets away from them. "I don't see any life, no push to get better," Guillen said. "I hope it's me, but it seems like, 'Let's just go out and see what happens.' We have good hitters, but right now, things aren't going our way. That's when you have to step it up and keep fighting. Hopefully this is a wake-up call for us to start playing better baseball. Hitting is contagious, winning is contagious and losing is contagious. It's better if we wake up on time and get things going."
BY THE NUMBERS: .208 -- Team batting average for the Sox in losses this season, compared to the .305 average in wins. That's why manager Ozzie Guillen considers this team so Jekyll and Hyde in 2009.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "We love this kid. This guy went out of his way to get in shape and come back. I told him, 'You're not supposed to be here right now. You were supposed to be here in July, August. Just take something positive out of the negative. You should still be in rehab.'" -- Manager Ozzie Guillen, on the talk he had with RHP Jose Contreras when he informed him he was out of the starting rotation.
