CHICAGO -- Dylan Covey isn't quite sure what to call the malady that knocked him from Saturday's start against Oakland in the fifth inning, although the White Sox are referring to it as right hip flexor soreness.
Whatever the issue, Covey felt no pain while throwing his regular bullpen session Tuesday and should be ready to start Friday in Texas.
"Everything felt great. Unless something weird happens, I'll be good to go. That's the plan," Covey said. "It didn't really hurt. It was kind of a precautionary thing, I think. Took things slow the last two days."
"He feels he's 100 percent," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "[White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper] saw his side today, he says there's no problem. He didn't feel it. So, right now, we're going as normal."
Covey has been the White Sox steadiest starter this season and was protecting a 5-2 lead in the fourth against Oakland, his former team, when he felt something coming off the mound. Covey walked Matt Joyce and went 2-1 on Jonathan Lucroy in the fifth, before Renteria and White Sox head athletic trainer Herm Schneider came to the mound and removed him from the game.
"I don't know exactly what it was," Covey said. "We didn't get any tests done but all the manual tests they did said my strength is good. Just probably like a cramp or something like that that was lingering a little bit. I was feeling it on the mound, so definitely thinking about it.
"If something doesn't feel right on the mound, I'm aware of it, and it's probably a good thing to get me out of there when they did before anything more serious happened to it. It's definitely relieving. I feel good today enough to throw a side and get after it a little bit."
The right-hander was sidelined from May 26 to Aug. 15 last season with a strained left oblique.
Third to first
• An update is expected Wednesday on Dane Dunning, the White Sox No. 6 prospect per MLB Pipeline, who left Saturday's start with Double-A Birmingham due to right elbow soreness. The update will come after a MRI is taken, although the White Sox remain cautiously optimistic.
• Infielder Nick Madrigal, the White Sox No. 1 pick and No. 4 selection overall in the 2018 MLB Draft, has helped propel Oregon State to the best-of-three finals of the College World Series against Arkansas in Omaha, Neb.