A first for Foster
CHICAGO — It wasn't announced until late Friday night, but White Sox rookie Matt Foster got the nod to start Saturday's game, marking the first of his professional career. As a relief pitcher in the minor leagues, Foster had never thrown more than three innings in a game.
"It's definitely different," Foster said of the assignment after the game. "I haven’t started a game since junior college. I definitely had some nerves going in."
Those nerves failed to announce themselves, as Foster opened up the game striking out Cleveland second basemen Cesar Hernandez, and two batters later struck out Francisco Lindor to complete a perfect start to the game.
In his second and final inning Foster was perfect again, adding another strikeout to his day. He was replaced the next inning by newly-recalled up righty Drew Anderson.
If the Sox are looking to finally implement the "opener" concept, the bullpen bullpen has enough young arms to experiment with. Plus, all of the early starting pitcher injuries could introduce the perfect time to unleash an "opener" day in the No. 5 spot.
Foster is willing to take the bump on Friday, and perhaps go a bit deeper into the game.
"I was hoping to go another [inning], but two’s all right," Foster said. "I’d definitely do it again. It was really different. I'm used to the sixth, seventh or eighth, so I was thinking about [the start] a lot."