The Chicago White Sox remain cautiously optimistic that pitcher Lucas Giolito will miss only two starts.
The team placed the right-hander on the injured list with an abdominal strain, one of four moves the Sox announced before Tuesday’s home opener against the Seattle Mariners at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Right fielder AJ Pollock also went on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Sunday, with a strained right hamstring that occurred Saturday.
The Sox recalled pitchers Jimmy Lambert and Anderson Severino from Triple-A Charlotte. Lambert is in line to start Thursday’s series finale against the Mariners.
Giolito’s IL stint is retroactive to Saturday. The injury occurred in Friday’s season opener in Detroit. He left after four scoreless innings.
“It was just like this one weird thing,” Giolito said Tuesday. “The super frustrating part is I was preparing, preparing, preparing all offseason long, spring training and then the first game I have this little weird injury.
“Best way to describe it is extremely frustrating, but with each day that’s passed, I’ve felt better and better. I really don’t think that it’s a big deal. Unfortunately, I’ve just got to let it heal up. That’s the way it goes sometimes.”
Pollock suffered his injury Saturday after leading off the third with a single. He is 4-for-7 with a double, RBI and run in two games.
“He is back in Arizona for the birth of a child,” Sox general manager Rick Hahn said Tuesday. “We knew that obviously he wasn’t going to play Sunday after needing to leave Saturday’s game with what would have been a paternity leave. He was going to be away from us for five games.
“Not necessarily knowing how he is going to feel on Day 6 and wanting to err on the side of caution, we thought putting him on the IL is probably the more prudent move.”
Lambert went 1-1 with a 6.23 ERA and 10 strikeouts in four games (three starts) for the Sox last season. He allowed one run on one hit in three innings Thursday for Charlotte against Norfolk.
“When you’re going back and forth between Triple A and the big leagues, you never know if you’re going to get that opportunity again,” Lambert told the Tribune. “So definitely don’t take it for granted. Definitely feels good to be back.
“I just want to continue to build on what I was doing last year. It starts with health. Being able to take the ball whenever they ask.”
Lambert, 27, described his spring as a “little slow.”
“I threw a couple of times, mainly because I had COVID and I was a little bit behind going into spring,” he said. “But it was good, it was healthy. I threw the ball pretty well. Just want to continue to build off that.”
The 27-year-old Severino, who has no major-league experience, gives the Sox another left-handed option out of the bullpen.
“Anderson was a little behind due to a visa issue so he didn’t quite get the full spring,” Hahn said. “He came in not too dissimilar from Bennett Sousa as one of our young lefties we were excited to see in camp. Anderson’s experience in spring was a little uneven because of his late arrival perhaps.
“But the stuff is there: plus fastball, slider, real nice mix to keep guys off balance and dominate an AB. We’ll see what he has to offer.”
