CLEVELAND -- The White Sox made one change within their 26-player roster in moving from the American League Wild Card Series sweep of Houston to the Division Series against Cleveland, as right-hander Huascar Brazobán was replaced by right-hander Tyler Davis.
“In kind of looking at the roster we expected from the Guardians, which is pretty much the same position player group that we know, it’s very heavy left-handed,” manager Will Venable said prior to Saturday’s Game 1 at Progressive Field. “They have matchup, switch-hitters.
“So, having Tyler Davis, who is more neutral and we like a little bit better versus lefties, was really kind of the calculus. Where Brazo against Houston, for example, who is very right-handed, was a better fit.”
The White Sox also stacked right-handed hitters at the top of their lineup against Guardians southpaw Parker Messick, with Chase Meidroth leading off followed by Randal Grichuk in left field and Miguel Vargas at third base. Tommy Pham at designated hitter and Brenton Doyle in center field also started, with left-handed hitters Sam Antonacci, Tristan Peters and Andrew Benintendi out of the lineup.
Messick, who had a Cy Young and Rookie of the Year caliber season, has allowed a .688 OPS to left-handed hitters this season and a .599 OPS against right-handers.
“When you talk about a pitcher, reverse [splits], that's one part of it. And then, you have hitters, and that's the other part of it,” Venable said. “So you kind of line those both up. And for us, that's something that we've taken into consideration. Just because he has reverse splits doesn't mean that we believe that all of our lefties are a better matchup in this case today.
“We look at all of that stuff, and try and think about whether it's the matchup at the plate, defensive implications, how it kind of all lines up for our whole group. It kind of all led to the group that we're throwing out there today.”
Below is a breakdown of the White Sox roster entering this afternoon’s game at Progressive Field.
- RIGHT-HANDED PITCHERS (7): Sean Burke, Tyler Davis, Erick Fedde, Jordan Hicks, Davis Martin, David Sandlin and Grant Taylor
- LEFT-HANDED PITCHERS (5): Bryan Hudson, Anthony Kay, Sean Newcomb, Noah Schultz and Hagen Smith
- CATCHERS (2): Jake Rogers and Kyle Teel
- INFIELDERS (5): Luisangel Acuña, Chase Meidroth, Colson Montgomery, Munetaka Murakami and Miguel Vargas
- OUTFIELDERS (7): Sam Antonacci, Andrew Benintendi, Brenton Doyle, Randal Grichuk, Braden Montgomery, Tristan Peters and Tommy Pham