GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The White Sox will rely on Edwin Encarnación for his power supply at designated hitter, a spot where he has started 723 career games.

But moving to first base defensively in 2020 will be possible when needed for the 37-year-old, who played 57 games at the position during 2019 between stops with the Mariners and Yankees.

“I've been doing this for a long time, so I don't think about that. I know what I need to do to play DH and sometimes I'm going to play first base too,” Encarnación said. “Whatever they need me to do. I'm here for whatever they want. I have no problem to play DH or play first base.”

“He can still play first,” White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “He was over there moving around pretty good today. I’m sure that we’ll figure out something for him to do. Primarily I see him as our everyday DH.”

José Abreu has already dubbed Encarnación the missing piece in a potentially potent White Sox lineup. With that offense and Encarnación’s age in mind, Renteria will be careful in that first base/DH balance.

“Absolutely. I think about all of that and I think about that process and getting him ready for the season, even through the spring,” Renteria said. “Gotta make sure I have conversations. Not just with him but with everybody to see where they are at.

“Certainly, a guy who has been around as long as he’s been, you try to find ways to make sure you can manage keeping him as fit as possible. He knows who he is.”

Encarnación said the current White Sox team reminds him of the 2015 Blue Jays, with a lot of young talent and a few veteran guys needing to put everything together. The ’15 Blue Jays lost in six games to the Royals in the AL Championship Series.

González making progress
The shoulder discomfort felt by Gio González has slowed him down at the outset of Spring Training, but it has not stopped him. González is now throwing from 120 feet and feels as if he’s making steady progress.

“I’m stretching it out,” González said. “If you would have asked me two weeks ago, I would have told you no chance. Now there’s light at the end of the tunnel which is great.

“We’ve been working day after day getting the shoulder right, trying to get me back to where I need to be. It’s nice to see I’m at 120 feet now.”

As a 12-year-veteran originally drafted by the White Sox in 2004, González knows his body and what he needs to get ready over this time in Arizona better than anyone in the organization.

“That’s what Coop [pitching coach Don Cooper] was telling me,” González said. “You know when to turn it up. You know how to get your shoulder right. Your body tells you how it is.

“Maybe it’s time to get that strength back, get your feet under you and move from there. I mean, if I get up to 15 innings that’s nice. But at this point, I just want to get healthy. I just want to get ready. Whatever it takes. The whole point is as long as I’m throwing, it’s better than being shut down completely and getting going during the season.

“At least this is happening now during Spring Training so I can make the adjustments right away and get stronger as I move along,” González said. “We have plenty of arms here to fill the spot. I’m just trying to get healthy so I can do my part and show the White Sox why they signed me.”

Schryver done for the season
Hunter Schryver will undergo Tommy John surgery on Thursday in Chicago, as announced by the team on Tuesday. Schryver, 24, was a non-roster invite to Spring Training who pitched for both Double-A Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte in 2019. The left-hander finished with a combined 4.04 ERA over 41 relief appearances, with 62 strikeouts in 62 1/3 innings. His greater success came with the Barons, where Schryver posted a 2.77 ERA in 30 games.

Third to first
• Outfielder Gorkys Hernández and the White Sox agreed upon a Minor League deal. The deal does not include an invite to big league camp.

• Lucas Giolito, who is dealing with a mild chest muscle strain near the ribcage, is “doing very, very well,” per Renteria.

“It’s nearing where he’ll be at some point getting back out there and throwing,” Renteria said.

They said it
“He is in a really good place. I mean, comfortably in his own skin. He's at a point right now where I think there's going to be a jump in his play defensively in a positive way.”-- Renteria, on shortstop Tim Anderson