PHOENIX — Drew Thorpe wasn’t nearly as sharp in the second start of his big-league career.
The right-hander allowed seven earned runs — three in the first inning — for the Chicago White Sox in Sunday’s 12-5 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks in front of 37,694 at Chase Field.
Thorpe walked five and didn’t record a strikeout in 3 1/3 innings.
“Just kind of didn’t have my best stuff,” Thorpe said. “I didn’t have my best command, obviously. It’s pretty hard to work around it when you don’t have it with the stuff I have.
“I beat myself, right. Five walks, that’s not how I am. The only thing you can do is flush it and get to the next one and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Thorpe allowed one earned run on three hits with four strikeouts and two walks in his major-league debut Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park.
The Diamondbacks got to him early. Joc Pederson drove in two with a double — he was out trying to make it to third. Christian Walker followed with a solo home run, making it 3-0 in the first.
Thorpe got knocked out of the game during a six-run fourth inning for the Diamondbacks.
“He’s got to be able to pitch and command the strike zone,” manager Pedro Grifol said. “That’s going to be his bread and butter. That’s going to be how he performs at this level. If that’s a little off, then he’s going to have to make some adjustments and if it’s way off like today, he’ll struggle a little bit.
“He’s a good competitor so you can’t overthink this one.”
The Sox lost two of three in the series and went 2-5 on the trip. Here are three more takeaways from the weekend.
1. Explaining Saturday’s intentional balk that aided the Sox.
Chicago White Sox catcher Martín Maldonado in a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, June 16, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Sox catcher Martín Maldonado has a connection with Diamondbacks pitching coach Brent Strom from their time together with the Houston Astros.
“I’ve been in this game for a long time, their pitching coach knows me really good,” Maldonado said Saturday.
That might have been a factor in a unique sequence during Saturday’s third inning. Maldonado doubled and moved to third when Thyago Vieira intentionally dropped the ball for a balk.
“Maldonado is very crafty,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo told Arizona reporters, including MLB.com, after the game. “And he was given signs. He was (perfect). He didn’t miss one. And so I just went out there and said, ‘Let’s force a balk.’”
Andrew Vaughn followed with an RBI single, the first run for the Sox in an eventual 9-2 victory. Regardless of the outcome, Grifol thought it was a good move by Lovullo.
“It helped Martín scoring from third instead of scoring from second,” Grifol said before Sunday’s game. “There might have been a play at home, but you know what? I applaud what (Lovullo) did. He identified it.
“There’s multiple ways of fixing it instead of having the pitcher do something uncomfortable in the moment. Balk him over to third and get the next guy out. And I applaud him for it.”
2. Lenyn Sosa benefiting from ‘the freedom to play free.’
Chicago White Sox’ Lenyn Sosa hits a single against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fourth inning on Sunday, June 16, 2024, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Lenyn Sosa singled in the sixth inning Saturday. He hit a three-run home run the next inning. And he doubled in the ninth.
The third baseman went 3-for-5 with one of the team’s four home runs in the game. He’s 18-for-50 with two home runs and seven RBIs in 14 games since being recalled from Triple-A Charlotte on May 31. He went 2-for-4 Sunday.
Sosa said through an interpreter after Saturday’s game that the confidence from the coaches has given him “the freedom to play free, the way I was playing in the minors.”
“I would rather play to have fun, to enjoy the game, and of course to help to do whatever it takes to have the team win,” Sosa said. “I’ve been enjoying the game playing with no pressure.”
Grifol said Sunday that mindset is “the only way he’s going to have success.”
“He’s not going to have success playing like he was before, just playing tight and not wanting to make mistakes and worried about making mistakes,” Grifol said. “Part of development is allowing players to do their thing and another big part of development is the players accepting instruction and constructive criticism, knowing that it’s coming from a good place. Coming from a place getting them better as an individual and getting us better as a team, as an organization.
“The No. 1 thing is to go out and play free. Don’t worry about making mistakes, and if you do make them, open your mind and let’s talk about it and get better for the next day. That’s development.”
3. Sox designate OF Duke Ellis for assignment and add C Chuckie Robinson to the 40-man roster.
Chicago White Sox center fielder Duke Ellis stands in the dugout before the start of a game against the Boston Red Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field on June 6, 2024. (Chris Sweda/Chicago Tribune)
Before Sunday’s game, the Sox designated outfielder Duke Ellis for assignment and selected the contract of catcher Chuckie Robinson from Charlotte to add him to the 40-man roster, then optioned him to Charlotte.
“(Robinson) had an out (in his contract), and he’s got a lot of value to the organization,” Grifol said of the move.
Robinson originally signed as a minor-league free agent during the offseason. He’s hitting .234 with six home runs and 25 RBIs in 41 games with the Knights.
“He’s a guy we really liked in the spring,” Grifol said. “He’s got a lot of energy. We didn’t want to lose him.”
Ellis, who was optioned to Charlotte on Wednesday, went 0-for-4 with a run and four stolen bases in eight games with the Sox this season.
“I really like Duke, we’ll see how that plays out,” Grifol said. “Two premium things — one is a premium position guy (in Robinson), and the other is premium speed (in Ellis). Sometimes you’ve got to make a tough decision, and that was it.”
