ANAHEIM -- It came out of nowhere, so what exactly was Tommy Kahnle's supposed to say? The White Sox reliever took the high road Wednesday when asked about former Major League pitcher LaTroy Hawkins saying he was "one of the worst teammates I've ever had."
Kahnle tried to shrug it off. Getting into a war of words with his former Rockies teammate was not on the agenda.
"It didn't bother me," Kahnle said. "I just laughed it off. It's not going to affect me or anybody. We're all good here."
Hawkins spent 21 seasons in the Majors, pitching for 11 teams, including the Twins and Rockies. Hawkins is now part of the Twins' broadcast team, and they are playing the Rockies in a three-game series in Minnesota.
On the air Tuesday, Hawkins told a story of how he'd gotten into a fight with Kahnle in 2014 while they were both pitching for the Rockies. Broadcast partner Dick Bremer responded that it must have been all in fun.
"No," Hawkins said. "One of the worst teammates I've ever had in my life, by far. And I've had a lot of teammates."
Kahnle said he's not active on social media, but friends had texted him the news.
"It's weird, but stuff happened in the past," Kahnle said. "Everybody's entitled to their own opinion. That's really all I got. I don't take it to heart or anything."
Kahnle has appeared in 16 games for the White Sox this season, posting a 1.80 ERA with 27 strikeouts and only four walks in 15 innings.
White Sox manager Rick Renteria said he was caught off guard when told of Hawkins' comments.
"Surprising to me, but I think everybody in the game has their opinion about certain things," Renteria said. "You run across different people in the game. Some people are going to like you; some people aren't going to like you. I happen to like him."
Kahnle was a 24-year-old rookie when the fight took place, Hawkins was a 41-year-old veteran.
"I've put it way in the past," Hawkins said. "I'm over it."
Renteria was asked during his media session Wednesday if during his playing career anyone considered him their worst teammate.
"I'm sure there was," he said. "But you guys are going to have to figure out who it was."
Rotation struggling
White Sox starting pitchers have struggled to pitch deep into games. Entering Wednesday, in their past 10 games the rotation was 0-7 with a 6.19 ERA.
"It could be a combination of things," Renteria said. "I like our starters. We just have to continue to improve and execute, go through innings in which we minimize pitches thrown, attack the strike zone.
"I'm not going to question my rotation. We have a decent enough rotation that, once everything falls into place, hopefully we'll be as effective as everybody else."
Moncada sidelined
Top White Sox prospectYoan Moncada is expected to be placed on the seven-day disabled list at Triple-A Charlotte with a sore left thumb.
A White Sox official said an X-ray and MRI exam came back clean, but the club wants to give the bruise time to heal. Moncada is batting .331 at Charlotte.