Chicago White Sox place Vince Velasquez on the IL — as Dylan Cease and Kendall Graveman return from the restricted list

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Vince Velasquez was in line to start Friday for the Chicago White Sox in the series opener against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field.

Instead, the right-hander was placed on the 15-day injured list with with a left groin strain. The move is retroactive to Tuesday.

Sox manager Tony La Russa said the injury occurred while Velasquez was shagging baseballs during a recent batting practice before a game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

“(Shagging) is part of his conditioning, and you watch him, he’s a great athlete,” La Russa said Friday. “He came in after the batting practice (Wednesday) and said ‘I feel a little something.’ We weren’t sure, give it 24 hours. (Thursday), when he was treated, the doctors said he has some kind of strain in that groin area. He had an MRI, so he’s going to be out, at least for the disabled period.”

Velasquez’s placement on the IL was one of six roster moves the team announced Friday.

The Sox recalled right-hander Davis Martin from Triple-A Charlotte to start Friday’s game against the Rays.

“Once we found out (about Velasquez), pulled Davis from Thursday night’s start (for Charlotte), flew him in here,” La Russa said.

The Sox reinstated starter Dylan Cease and reliever Kendall Graveman from the restricted list and returned pitchers Kyle Crick and Jimmy Lambert to Charlotte.

Cease and Graveman were placed on the restricted list Monday ahead of the team’s trip to Toronto. Last week, Sox general manager Rick Hahn said the team wasn’t 100% vaccinated and that two players would have to be replaced for the series because of Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions.

“The baseball rule, or administrative rule, that applies is that those (unvaccinated) players wind up on the restricted list and are eligible for replacement according to the rules,” Hahn said Saturday.

Graveman thanked the Sox and said the organization has “really been supportive of allowing me to make a decision.”

“I think that was something that they didn’t have to take that route, but they did,” Graveman said Friday. “And I really respect our organization as a whole from the time that they were trying to get me as a free agent to spring training to up close to the time to go to Toronto that they’ve really supported me making a decision for myself.

“And that is something that I don’t take for granted because I really respect our front office and the people within our organization that have communicated with me and been supportive of me. I think that’s a positive and shows our organization has a ton of class and that’s been something that I’ve really appreciated.”

Graveman, who is 1-1 with a 2.78 ERA, 19 strikeouts, two saves and 10 holds, spent a portion of the week working out with Charlotte. He threw a bullpen Wednesday.

“For me personally, I want to compete and win,” he said. “That’s our goal. … (D)eep down in my heart I’m a competitor, so any time I have to miss games it really hurts. But I’m excited and I feel refreshed as far as having a few days where I didn’t pitch and the unique thing was I was able to get a bullpen in.

“I always try to find opportunities to make myself better and that was one of those rare events throughout the middle of the season that I got to do that and hopefully we get on a hot streak here as we move forward towards the All-Star break.”

Graveman kept tabs on the games in Toronto.

“I thought Crick did a great job when he came in,” Graveman said. “Such a good thing to see.”

Crick on Monday was recalled from Charlotte when Cease and Graveman went on the restricted list. He had a 1-2-3 inning Tuesday and allowed one hit while striking out three in two scoreless innings Wednesday.

“I had a good sinker-slider combo going, pounded the zone early,” Crick told the Tribune on Friday. “(Catcher) Reese (McGuire) had a really good game plan and we executed and stuck to it. We made all the pitches when we needed to.”

The Sox will need to do some more juggling after another player landed on the injured list.

The list of Sox players currently out includes shortstop Tim Anderson (right groin strain), left fielder Eloy Jiménez (right hamstring tendon tear, rehabbing with Charlotte), starter Lance Lynn (Friday’s scheduled starter in a rehab assignment with Charlotte as he recovers from right knee surgery) and reliever Joe Kelly (right hamstring strain).

“Everybody’s getting beat up (throughout the majors),” La Russa said. “We just have to handle it, have to deal with it.”