White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper said there has been no discussion of shutting down Jake Peavy’s comeback attempt this season.
But the Sox will know more about the condition of their prized acquisition’s right elbow after a series of tests Monday in Minneapolis.
Manager Ozzie Guillen already has ruled out Peavy — who came out of a minor-league rehab start for Triple-A Charlotte on Saturday at Norfolk because of elbow tightness — from consideration for Thursday’s start against the Cubs because he doesn’t want to take any more risks.
But, “if this guy is clean, we have five more days, I don’t see why not pitch him (with the Sox),” Guillen said.
Cooper wouldn’t say whether Peavy, who threw only 68 pitches and 3 1/3 innings Saturday, would need another rehab start.
Nevertheless, the deliberate nature in which the Sox have mapped Peavy’s rehab from a right ankle injury suggests he will need another minor-league outing despite Guillen’s wish to have Peavy make his next start with the Sox.
“[Peavy] said he hadn’t felt this (elbow tightness) before and he said he didn’t want to take any chances,” said Cooper, who exchanged text messages with Peavy after Saturday’s start. “He didn’t feel like he could get the extension at that time and pulled himself out and said that he had enough. I think that’s a smart move. Once we get our hands on him and get him here, we’ll see where he’s at.
“We have to see how he’s doing physically before we think about anything after that. … Whatever schedule we set, we’ll find out what we need to do once we find out what we are dealing with.”
Cooper maintained he wasn’t frustrated that Peavy had another setback.
“How can you miss something you never had before or haven’t had yet?” Cooper said. “We are going to make the decision directly based on him, and when he comes, great, we are all open arms.”
