Dunning's options include Tommy John surgery

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Dane Dunning, No. 80 among MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects and No. 6 in the White Sox organization, will meet with Dr. James Andrews on Monday in Florida with all options on the table, according to general manager Rick Hahn, including Tommy John surgery.

“He progressed through his throwing program, felt a little discomfort at some point, so we immediately shut it down,” Hahn said.

Dunning, 24, produced a 6-3 record with a 2.71 ERA over 15 starts between Class A Advanced Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham in 2018. He fanned 100 over 86 1/3 innings, and he could have been a fringe candidate for the White Sox fifth starter’s spot this spring had a moderate elbow strain not interrupted his progress on June 23.

The right-hander was limited to a throwing program until throwing side sessions and seeing some Instructional League action in October, but Dunning was healthy coming into Spring Training, until forearm soreness set him back early in camp. He was examined by White Sox team doctor Nik Verma in Glendale and Andrews in Pensacola, Fla., and went through rest and treatment before resuming his throwing program.

“There’s only so many things we can control,” said White Sox manager Rick Renteria of Dunning. “He’s trying to control everything he can, and again he’ll be seen, reevaluated and then we will know where he’s at.”

Banuelos has solid birthday

Manny Banuelos turned 28 on Wednesday and celebrated by striking out five Dodgers over 3 1/3 innings in the South Siders' 10-7 win at Camelback Ranch. Although Banuelos felt Wednesday represented one of his best starts of Spring Training, he wasn’t satisfied with a fourth-inning pitch he made resulting in a long two-run home run for Cody Bellinger.

“It was a bad pitch,” said Banuelos through interpreter Billy Russo. “Honestly, I’m very demanding on myself. I’m not satisfied with my numbers. I’m not satisfied with my performance because I know I can do better. Even in a good outing, I still know I can do better.

“But the first three innings were good. My pitches were good. I was locating my pitches in the strike zone on the edges.”

Abreu scratched from Wednesday’s game

During Wednesdays’ pregame media session, Jose Abreu mentioned with a smile how he felt good. That proclamation came a little bit before the White Sox first baseman took a ground ball near his right eye during batting practice, causing some swelling, and leading to Abreu being scratched from Wednesday night’s contest against the Dodgers at Camelback Ranch.

“Went to backhand a ball, deflected off his glove, came up and hit him on the right eye,” Renteria said. “You can see it swelled up a little bit. Just precautionary, pull him from the lineup and he’ll have the day off tomorrow, keep packing it with ice and he should be ready by the next day.”

Santana continues to climb

Hahn said the team feels good about where Ervin Santana is at right now, despite the fact that the right-hander has yet to make a start in a Cactus League contest.

“He’s climbing,” Hahn said. “He came to us, not surprisingly, a little bit behind because of arriving late to camp as well as coming off the finger issue. But just this morning, he was explaining how good he feels. We have got him on a very precise program. You will see him in a game in the next week or so and build from there.”

With scheduled off-days on March 29 in Kansas City, April 2 in Cleveland and April 5 at home, Hahn mentioned there won’t necessarily be a need for a fifth starter until April 10. That scheduling quirk could lead the White Sox to break camp with four starters, eight relievers and possibly an extra position player as Santana gets stronger.

“We have that potential for a little bit extra time for a guy like Ervin or whoever we decided to go with in that spot,” said Hahn, with Wednesday's starter, Manny Banuelos, and Dylan Covey also in play.

Well-traveled Osich reaches Arizona

The schedule for Josh Osich over the last three weeks has been hectic by any sort of travel measures.

“I started with the Giants. I went to Spring Training and did all their stuff for them,” said the left-handed reliever, who was claimed by the White Sox on Monday. “Right when Spring Training started, they DFAd me and I got claimed by the Orioles. Went over for 2 1/2 weeks and then got DFAd over there. Now got claimed over here.”

Osich, 30, held left-handed hitters to a .228 average over 160 games with the Giants over the past four seasons. He would like to stay with the White Sox to show off that skill.

“Hopefully I don’t keep going back and forth,” said a smiling Osich. “From Giants to Orioles, I had all seven days. And then the Orioles, I had two days off. I went from Orioles to Maine, because that’s where I live. Then went from Maine to here. So, I went Arizona to Florida to Maine to Arizona in like three weeks.”

They said it

“I don't want to disrespect anybody, and I don't want to disrespect former teammates, but I think the atmosphere that we're experiencing here is the best that I've experienced in Spring Training with this organization.” -- Abreu, through interpreter Billy Russo, comparing this year’s clubhouse atmosphere to his past five with the White Sox

Up next

The White Sox have their final Spring Training off-day on Thursday, followed by their second Cactus League contest against the Cubs before a sold out crowd at Camelback Ranch on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 p.m. CT with the Cubs winning the first spring matchup between the two in Mesa. Lucas Giolito gets the start for the White Sox.