Giants at White Sox (3/2) – Davis Martin's Second Start, Luisangel Acuña Returns, More

Camelback Ranch, Ariz. – A spring-training Monday that still carries October-level subplots sees the San Francisco Giants (7-2) and Chicago White Sox (7-4) square off at 2:05 p.m. CT, with MLB.TV providing the video feed and ESPN 1000 handling the radio call.

The storyline sheet is headlined by White Sox right-hander Davis Martin, making his second Cactus League appearance and, in many ways, his most urgent. Martin, the longest-tenured player currently on Chicago’s roster, labored through two innings in his debut, allowing a home run and a walk while striking out none. The 29-year-old owns a 4.32 ERA across 44 big-league starts, and while his pitch-mix depth is considered an asset for manager Will Venable, the competition for back-end rotation spots is crowded with younger arms pushing from below. Martin needs efficiency and swing-and-miss Monday to keep his footing.

Opposing him is Landen Roupp, the Giants’ ground-ball machine who authored a 3.80 ERA over 106.2 innings last season. Roupp’s 45.2 percent ground-ball rate and 76.7 mph curveball helped him rank among baseball’s best at suppressing hard contact, a direct challenge for a White Sox lineup that slugged four home runs in Sunday’s 5-1 crosstown win over the Cubs. Three of those long balls came against Cubs lefty Shota Imanaga, who again struggled with fastball command. Lenyn Sosa and Tanner Murray both went deep in that game; each is back in the order today, with Sosa serving as the designated hitter and Murray at shortstop.

Luisangel Acuña, the former Mets prospect who has been sidelined since Feb. 25 with an injury, returns to center field and the No. 2 spot in the order. The 23-year-old is expected to factor prominently in the Opening Day center-field equation, but Brooks Baldwin’s productive camp has kept the position battle fluid. Every at-bat Acuña takes from here forward will be dissected as the club decides who breaks camp as the everyday starter.

Several White Sox regulars will depart Arizona later this week to join their national teams for the World Baseball Classic, trimming evaluation time for names like Munetaka Murakami, Kyle Teel and Sam Antonacci. The absences create additional reps for fringe roster players hoping to force their way into Venable’s plans.

First pitch is scheduled for 2:05 p.m. with temperatures expected in the mid-70s under clear desert skies.

Giants lineup 1. Chase Meidroth, 2B 2. Luisangel Acuña, CF 3. Miguel Vargas, 3B 4. LaMonte Wade Jr., 1B 5. Lenyn Sosa, DH 6. Tanner Murray, SS 7. Jarred Kelenic, LF 8. Derek Hill, RF 9. Korey Lee, C

White Sox lineup 1. Jesus Rodriguez, 2B 2. Parks Harber, 3B 3. Christian Koss, SS 4. Victor Bericoto, RF 5. Luis Matos, CF 6. Casey Schmitt, 1B 7. Eric Haase, C 8. Jerar Encarnacion, LF 9. Buddy Kennedy, DH