3 takeaways from the Chicago White Sox spring opener, including Lance Lynn tossing 3 solid innings in a 6-2 loss

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Eloy Jiménez estimated that it had been five years since he last played right field.

With Andrew Benintendi signed as the new Chicago White Sox left fielder, Jiménez is aiming for playing time in right along with likely DH duties. He started at the position Saturday.

“It was weird for the first pitch, a little bit nervous,” Jiménez said. “But after that, it was good.”

Jiménez didn’t have any flyballs hit his way in his three innings in right.

Changes were on full display Saturday at Camelback Ranch. The Sox also had a new manager in the dugout in Pedro Grifol. And the game was the team’s first under new rules, including a pitch clock.

The Sox opened Cactus League play with a 6-2 loss to the San Diego Padres. Gavin Sheets homered to right in the second and Jake Burger homered to left in the ninth. The contest was completed in a crisp 2 hours, 32 minutes.

Here are three takeaways from Sox camp.

Lynn struck out David Dahl and Pedro Severino with runners at the corners to wrap up the first inning. The Sox starter struck out one batter in the second and one more in the third. After allowing three consecutive hits to begin the game, Lynn retired nine straight.

“All in all the ball was coming out good, all the pitches were working how I wanted them to for the most part,” Lynn said Saturday. “Now it’s fine-tuning that and building up strength (and) pitch count.”

[ [Don’t miss] Column: Here’s hoping Jerry Reinsdorf can celebrate his 87th birthday despite dueling White Sox and Bulls distractions ]

Lynn allowed one run on three hits with four strikeouts and no walks in the three innings. He said he threw 45 pitches and another 10 or so in the bullpen afterward.

“I was able to give up a couple of infield knocks and one bad breaking ball for a hit, but it felt normal,” Lynn said.

The right-hander is gearing up for the season — and the World Baseball Classic.

Lynn is one of three Sox players on Team USA, joining shortstop Tim Anderson and reliever Kendall Graveman. Lynn said he’s aiming for two more starts with the Sox before reporting to Team USA in early March.

Jiménez made some adjustments to his first-inning plate appearance. Before batting, he would often greet the plate umpire and opposing catcher with a light tap of the bat.

“But not anymore,” Jiménez said.

The changes come with the pitch clock in effect. There’s 30 seconds between batters, 15 seconds between pitches with the bases empty and 20 with runners on base. Batters have to be in the box and alert to the pitcher with eight seconds remaining.

“Before the first pitch it was kind of weird because I have my routine,” Jiménez said. “But I had to cut it off, everything. But as soon as I took the first pitch, all good. No problem.”

Jiménez finished the at-bat with a single to center.

[ [Don’t miss] What’s next for Chicago White Sox starter Dylan Cease after a stellar 2022 season? ‘I feel even more motivated’ ]

Lynn concentrated on the changes during the offseason and in early work at camp.

“All offseason I worked fast on my bullpens, worked fast in my bullpens here (in camp),” he said. “Really fast in my live (bullpens), almost faster than necessary so when I got out there it wouldn’t feel faster, it would feel normal.

“That’s going to be the big thing for everyone, figuring out how to work fast to when you’re out there, you can slow down.”

The Sox had a violation in the ninth inning as minor-league pitcher Mike Morin was charged an automatic ball.

Grifol held an in-game interview with NBC Sports Chicago during the second inning.

“Go ball, yeah,” Grifol said as Sheets’ long fly to right landed beyond the fence for a solo home run.

Saturday marked the beginning of an era for the Sox as Grifol was in the dugout for his first spring training game as a manager.

“It feels good,” Grifol said before the game. “(Saturday is) different for (the players), they are the ones who are going to play the game. But for us as a staff, it is good as well because we planned all offseason for spring training and there are certain things that we want to get accomplished in the games one through five and then other things we want in five through 10 and so on and so forth.

“We are just in the preparation stage right now. We are trying to prepare this club for opening day.”

[ [Don’t miss] ‘Just scratching the surface’: Andrew Vaughn makes the move from the outfield to first base for the Chicago White Sox ]

Leading up to the spring opener, the Sox broke the first portion of camp into chunks of five days in terms of focus.

“The one thing I saw that I really liked was there was really good effort,” Grifol said Friday of the most recent five-day period. “The fundamentals are just OK. They’re not where we want them to be. But the effort is there and the attention to detail and the questions, the good questions are there.

“For me, that’s a really good step in the right direction. There’s some things we’ve got to tighten up for sure . … I’m looking forward to watching these guys play as individuals and as a team. And we’ll address things as they come.”