GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Dane Dunning, ranked No. 80 overall among MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects, is experiencing forearm discomfort and being evaluated, the White Sox confirmed on Tuesday. The team will update Dunning’s situation in the coming days.
The right-hander, who was acquired from Washington in the Adam Eaton deal along with Reynaldo Lopez and Lucas Giolito, exited a start for Double-A Birmingham with elbow pain on June 23 and didn’t pitch again last season. He originally feared the worst but was able to avoid Tommy John surgery, with the injury being diagnosed as a moderate right elbow sprain. He made progress while going through a rehab program and throwing side sessions during Instructional League action in October.
“I was just kind of praying for the best,” said Dunning back in October in Glendale. “I wasn't thinking it was surgery, but I put myself in that mind frame that it might be a tear.
“It might be something along the lines of where I need surgery. It was a big relief once I found out it was just a sprain and I could just take half a season off and work through it.”
Dunning, 24, posted a 2.71 ERA with 100 strikeouts over 86 1/3 innings between 2018 stops at Class A Advanced Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham. He is considered by MLB Pipeline to be the No. 6 prospect in the White Sox organization.
Lambert has successful debut
Tuesday’s Cactus League debut for Jimmy Lambert, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the White Sox No. 21 prospect, started with a walk issued to Kansas City’s Nicky Lopez and then Hunter Dozier being hit by a pitch. It ended with Lambert throwing two scoreless innings, including a first-inning strikeout of Jorge Soler, and getting the victory in a 9-7 White Sox win.
“Probably a little bit of nerves,” said Lambert of his rough opening. “Missing up to the first hitter, and the second batter, I hit him with a breaking ball and it kind of slipped out of my hand.
“After that happened, I settled down. I felt a little better out of the stretch, and that helped me out.”
Lambert, 24, finished 2018 with a 3.67 ERA and 110 strikeouts over 95 2/3 innings between stops at Birmingham and Class A Advanced Winston-Salem. He had a 5.26 ERA between the Arizona Rookie League and Class A Kannapolis in '16 and a 5.45 ERA over 17 starts for the Dash after being promoted from Kannapolis in ’17. But he's since bounced back and pushed himself into the future rotation picture with a non-roster invite to Spring Training.
“It’s a huge opportunity,” Lambert said. “It’s an honor to be invited, to be with the big leaguers. Just getting in the game in is an honor, let alone start. It was pretty special, and it was a lot of fun.
“There were Royals players in the lineup there today, so that was cool to see. It has been pretty crazy, and I feel I’ve come a ways since the end of 2017 to now, but I have a long ways to be where I want to be. So I have to keep building, keep progressing and hopefully be in Chicago as soon as possible.”
Giolito working on new delivery
Giolito’s new delivery has a shorter arm swing and a bit of deception, according to White Sox manager Rick Renteria.
“It’s a little tougher to see. His breaking ball is a little sharper,” said Renteria of Giolito, who is scheduled to pitch Thursday against the Mariners. “The guys who have caught him that have faced him, James [McCann] in particular, caught him one work day and was really surprised how tough it was to actually see the ball out of his hand.
“There’s some huge positives to the adjustment that he’s made. And hopefully this will continue to transition for him into a positive big step moving forward.”
They said it
“I’m an aggressive baserunner. I’m gonna go as hard as I can and force the defense to make a play. Especially in these games, I’m going to try to push the envelope and show my teammates that I’m trying to get extra bases. They didn’t work out today. Maybe they weren’t the smartest, but I felt good.” -- Nick Madrigal, who had two hits, but was caught stealing and thrown out trying to turn a single into a double
Up next
The White Sox regular Major League rotation begins its first turn through the Cactus League when Lopez takes the mound at 2:05 p.m. CT on Wednesday against the Reds at Camelback Ranch. Lopez had a 1.38 ERA over his last seven regular-season starts in 2018.