KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The White Sox sent rookie right-hander Jordan Leasure to Triple-A Charlotte on June 14 for a breather of sorts after he had appeared in 30 of their first 69 games.
After making three appearances and allowing nine runs after his return July 8, Leasure landed on the 15-day injured list Saturday with an impingement in his pitching shoulder. The Sox recalled left-hander Sammy Peralta (2-1, 4.60 ERA at Charlotte) to take his place.
Leasure didn’t blame his poor outings on the discomfort.
‘‘Those were just bad,’’ said Leasure, whose ERA climbed from 4.08 to 6.32 in those three outings. ‘‘Nothing painful there. Nothing.’’
Leasure, 25, said he threw during the All-Star break and felt fine but was sore when he threw Friday in Kansas City.
‘‘Obviously dealing with some stuff all season long, but I’ve been able to manage it and work through,’’ Leasure said. ‘‘[On Friday], I came in, felt fine, went out to throw and just couldn’t really get into the grind, feeling pain.’’
After coming over from the Dodgers in the trade for right-handers Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly at the deadline last season, Leasure has been viewed as a potential closer. Manager Pedro Grifol has noted Leasure’s significant workload in high-leverage situations.
‘‘He got a taste of what it’s like, and he’ll benefit from that moving forward,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘His job right now is to get healthy, finish strong and see if he can get through a full season. We’ll give him his 15 days, reevaluate it and he should be ready to go.’’
Leasure said it’s the nature of the pitching business.
‘‘You’re never going to be 100% with what we do,’’ he said. ‘‘Then [after] I had taken a normal All-Star break, [it] was way worse.’’
Robert’s plate discipline
Center fielder Luis Robert Jr. entered play Saturday batting .297/.375/.531 with four home runs in his last 16 games, and Grifol has taken note of his improved plate discipline.
‘‘He’s learning how to really hit,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘He’s learning that part of being a great hitter is being on base, swinging at good pitches. Part of not maximizing your potential is swinging at bad pitches, and the discipline he’s showing is pretty remarkable. It’s impressive.’’
Robert isn’t giving in to temptation to try to do more for a team struggling to score runs. That would get him away from his approach.
‘‘We’ve all seen a walk for him can very easily be a double or triple [with a stolen base or two],’’ Grifol said. ‘‘He has that type of ability. He can impact a game in a different way. . . . He is helping the team in that regard.’’
What about Montgomery?
Shortstop Colson Montgomery is the Sox’ top-ranked prospect and a first-round draft pick, but he was batting .217/.330/.386 in 79 games in his first season at Triple-A and watched infielder Brooks Baldwin get called up before him.
A call-up for Montgomery this season is ‘‘still TBD,’’ Grifol said. ‘‘Everyone wants him up here at some point. We just have to make sure we pick the right timing for that.’’
The trade deadline July 30 might factor in, with shortstop Paul DeJong a possible trade piece.
‘‘Yeah, I expect [Montgomery] to be here at some point unless our front office doesn’t see it’s the right time,’’ Grifol said.
Clevinger update
Right-hander Mike Clevinger will throw a bullpen session this weekend and start Tuesday for Charlotte. If that goes well, his next pitches might be for the Sox.
