Why Cactus League's first start was “ a huge sign & amp; # 39; for Dallas Keuchel

The two Gios have not yet been seen during the Cactus League match.

Well, Lucas Giolito's first spring outing comes friday when the White Sox face the Cubs. But what about Gio Gonzalez?

Treating shoulder pain from the start of camp, Gonzalez is slowly regaining full health.

"It's a good time to get to know me differently, to prepare, to take slow steps to try to get healthy, to give yourself the chance to get to where they need you, not to the way you need yourself, "Gonzalez told reporters, including Our Chuck Garfien, in Arizona on Monday. "It's one of those things where it doesn't work, it stays there. I don't want to go there and then take three, four steps back and delay it."

"This is good progress. We are making progress forward rather than backward. We haven't had any setbacks yet, so it's huge. If I can get out of the camp with at least a few heats under my belt, I can go. From there. "

Gonzalez's presence in the White Sox rotation is important, brought to provide some stability to veterans behind starting personnel after the South Siders suffered from a parade of ineffective options to complete the rotation last season.

Although his shoulder brings a bit of mystery to this stage of spring training, he seems to have a solid understanding of his role as one of the new staff veterans, as well as his fellow worker. Dallas Keuchel winter.

The White Sox have a fleet of powerful young guns, guys like Giolito, Michael Kopech, Dylan Cease and Reynaldo Lopez, which the team says all have peak potential. But they must first realize this potential. Gonzalez considers that it is part of him and Keuchel's tasks to assist in this process.

"Young guys are what will take you to the next level. Guys of my stature are helping them, guiding them to this next level," said Gonzalez. "We have such a great talent, and that only helps them to reveal that talent and express themselves comfortably without thinking of the world on your shoulders.

"Guys like me, guys like Keuchel help in another way, without giving them as much pressure and helping them to focus on the task at hand. Just go out and let them make their way and show the world how great they can be and they will be. These are things we need to do as veteran staff. Veteran guys like me and Keuchel are just letting the guys be themselves. "Be who you are , be what makes you comfortable. And at the same time, be confident. We need to let them know that their stuff is playing at this level and there is a reason why they are in these top five. "

The fact that starting at five has been the subject of much discussion before the 2020 season, fans curious as to whether he can emerge as a force in a pursuit for first place in the playoffs of the franchise in over a decade. Certainly, Cease and Lopez appear as intriguing question marks as they seek to change the ugly numbers they released in 2019. Kopech's return from Tommy John's surgery seems to be taking place. as expected, but will it be the same launcher that was promised before the procedure?

Gonzalez and Keuchel can provide the reliability that their track records say they are capable of delivering, but they will also have to help the younger ones, if the White Sox want to do what they seem capable of doing on paper.

"If you want to make the big games possible, it will be the guys they are going to put on the mound to get us into these big games," said Gonzalez. "I see it like this: all of these guys want to fight to get that ball and start match 7 or the first game of the playoffs. Whichever way we want to go, these are the guys you're going on count the most The last thing they need is that extra pressure to go out there and try to rock.

"The teams who want to show it to you. They will fight and compete at the highest level. And I think we have the rotation to do it, from what I've seen at the top Spring training … The rotation we have, we have guys who could help lead this team to the promised land. This is where we are heading. It is our whole mentality spring training.

"Either you want it or you don't. And we all want it. So let's say we compete to do it."

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