Two pitchers could make their Chicago White Sox debut Monday as they fortify their pitching staff for a doubleheader at Cleveland.
Manager Robin Ventura already announced that left-hander Eric Stults will start Monday night's second game after being promoted from Triple-A Charlotte.
The bigger surprise is that left-hander Jose Quintana, whom the Sox signed as a free agent from the New York Yankees' organization, is expected to be added to the Sox's roster.
Under new rules of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, rosters can be expanded to 26 players for doubleheaders. A source confirmed Quintana was expected to be in Cleveland on Sunday night. Several Columbian outlets reported that Quintana was being promoted to the Sox.
Quintana, 23, was 1-2 with a 3.06 ERA in six starts at Double-A Birmingham. He wsa 10-2 with a 2.91 ERA with 88 strikeouts in 102 innings at Class-A Tampa last season.
Quintana wasn't listed among the Sox's top 30 prospects in Baseball America's 2012 Prospect Handbook, but he impressed several Sox officials in spring training, where he didn't allow a run in three appearances before he was optioned to the minors on March 19.
Quintana started his professional career with the New York Mets in 2006 but didn't pitch in 2007 as he was serving a 50-game suspension for violating terms of Minor League Baseball's drug prevention program.
Quintana signed with the Yankees and pitched in their organization for four seasons.
Meanwhile, pitcher Dylan Axelrod was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte after pitching 4 1/3 innings and 99 pitches against Detroit in a 3-1 loss. After the game, manager Robin Ventura said the Sox needed more pitching depth for the doubleheader and added that Axelrod wasn't going to be able to pitch Monday.
"It's business right now," Axelrod said. "We've got a doubleheader. I'm not mad about it. It is what it is. (Monday), we need some extra pitchers and we'll see what happens."
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