Sale credits Nieves with developing changeup

CHICAGO -- A.J. Pierzynski and Jake Peavy, who are old friends and former members of the White Sox organization, will be in town Monday night for a three-game series with the Red Sox beginning Tuesday.

But the arrival of Red Sox pitching coach Juan Nieves, who was the White Sox bullpen coach from 2008-12, is not lost on staff ace Chris Sale.

Sale was a member of the White Sox bullpen in 2010-11.

"Actually, I talk to him quite a bit. What a great guy he is," Sale said of Nieves. "He was one of the guys that really developed my changeup in terms of showing me grips and things like that.

"Even when I was in the bullpen, he was still making sure I was keeping that sharp, even though I didn't use it quite as much," Sale said.

Per Fangraphs.com, Sale has thrown his changeup 30.7 percent of the time through three '14 starts. That number is up from 19 percent in '13.