WHITE SOX HEADLINES OF APRIL 6, 2018 “Pipeline Preview: Acuna to make 2018 debut”… William Boor, MLB.com “Coleman returns to grounds crew for opener”… Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Here are the Minors' 10 most talented teams”… Jim Callis, MLB.com “Tim Anderson drew a walk, and he wants you to know it's a big deal”… Jordan Shusterman, MLB.com “Jimenez should return to game action next week”… Scott Merkin, MLB.com “Thursday's best: Athletics prospects thrive for Nashville”…William Boor, MLB.com “Sanchez's big day for naught as 'pen loses lead”…Scott Merkin, MLB.com “As Hawk Harrelson starts final year in White Sox booth, A.J. Pierzynski says not hearing him 'hurts my heart'”…Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago “Meet the machines: Home opener ends in loss, but White Sox 'prove it' players continue hot starts”…Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago “Bullpen meltdown in home opener begs the question: Will there be more days like this for White Sox?”…Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago “Daily White Sox prospects update: Dane Dunning strikes out eight in opener”…. Vinnie Duber, NBC Sports Chicago “Deflating home opener reveals Sox bullpen will rely on Nate Jones and Joakim Soria while taking auditions elsewhere”…James Fegan, The Athletic “Someday soon, tough White Sox losses will be harder to swallow. Today is not that day.”…Lauren Comitor, The Athletic “White Sox prospects are off and running, provided they're healthy”…James Fegan, The Athletic Pipeline Preview: Acuna to make 2018 debut By William Boor / MLB.com/ April 6, 2018

Here's a look at top prospects to watch in today's Minor League action:

Hitter to watch: Ronald Acuna Jr. (No. 2 overall, Braves' No. 1), Gwinnett vs. Norfolk (7:05 p.m. ET on MiLB.TV)

The Braves' young phenom will likely be in the Majors by the end of the month, but until he's called up, he'll showcase his skills with the Stripers. Acuna appeared in 54 Triple-A games in 2017 and hit .354/.393/.548. The 20-year-old proved he's ready for the Majors as he hit .432 over 44 at-bats in Spring Training and will certainly be one of the most watched prospects early in the season.

Pitcher to watch: No. 59 overall Alex Faedo (Tigers' No. 3), Lakeland vs. Tampa (6:30 p.m. ET)

Faedo will be making his professional debut as the Tigers shut him down after the Draft last summer. Faedo pitched well in 2017, dominating in the College World Series, but because of his heavy workload, the Tigers opted to take it easy with the right-hander, whom they selected with the No. 18 overall pick.

Duel of the Day: Stephen Gonsalves (No. 79 overall, Twins' No. 3) vs. Jordan Stephens (White Sox No. 22), Chattanooga vs. Birmingham (7:15 p.m. ET on MiLB.TV)

Gonsalves takes the ball for his first start of 2018 after going 9-5 with a 3.27 ERA in 20 games last season. The lefty struggled a bit in Triple-A, but he had good success with the Lookouts last season, going 8-3 with a 2.68 ERA over 15 starts.

Stephens will also be back in Double-A for the second straight season. The right-hander, a fifth-round pick back in 2015, went 3-7 last year but posted a 3.14 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP. Stephens struck out 83 and pitched 91 2/3 innings after missing the first two months of the season with forearm tendinitis.

Friday's Top 100 prospect probables No. 48 overall Justus Sheffield (Yankees' No. 3), Trenton vs. Richmond (7 p.m. ET on MiLB.TV) No. 50 overall Adrian Morejon (Padres' No. 6), Lake Elsinore vs. Stockton (10:10 p.m. ET) No. 86 overall Adonis Medina (Phillies' No. 4), Clearwater vs. Dunedin (6:15 p.m. ET on MiLB.TV)

More top prospect probables Anthony Banda (D-backs' No. 16), Durham vs. Charlotte (Triple-A) Yefry Ramirez (Orioles' No. 19), Norfolk vs. Gwinnett (Triple-A) Shawn Morimando (Indians' No. 30), Columbus vs. Indianapolis (Triple-A) Nick Kingham (Pirates' No. 13), Indianapolis vs. Columbus (Triple-A) (Cardinals' No. 6), Memphis vs. Round Rock (Triple-A) Taylor Clarke (D-backs' No. 7), Reno vs. Fresno (Triple-A) Aaron Civale (Indians' No. 10), Akron vs. Altoona (Double-A) Shaun Anderson (Giants' No. 8), Richmond vs. Trenton (Double-A) Jefry Rodriguez (Nationals' No. 17), Harrisburg vs. Bowie (Double-A) Nick Neidert (Marlins' No. 10), Jacksonville vs. Jackson (Double-A) Taylor Widener (D-backs' No. 4), Jackson vs. Jacksonville (Double-A) Jordan Romano (Blue Jays' No. 27), New Hampshire vs. Hartford (Double-A) Ryan Castellani (Rockies' No. 8), Hartford vs. New Hampshire (Double-A) Sandy Baez (Tigers' No. 20), Erie vs. Reading (Double-A) Zack Brown (Brewers' No. 25), Erie vs. Reading (Double-A) (Braves' No. 11), Mississippi vs. Tennessee (Double-A) Luis Pena (Angels' No. 26), Mobile vs. Pensacola (Double-A) Caleb Ferguson (Dodgers' No. 16), Tulsa vs. Frisco (Double-A) Ariel Jurado (Rangers' No. 19), Frisco vs. Tulsa (Double-A) Logan Allen (Padres' No. 8), San Antonio vs. Arkansas (Double-A) Chase De Jong (Mariners' No. 21), Arkansas vs. San Antonio (Double-A) Freicer Perez (Yankees' No. 8), Tampa vs. Lakeland ( Advanced) Trey Supak (Brewers' No. 23), Carolina vs. Winston-Salem (Class A Advanced) Hector Perez (Astros' No. 11), Buies Creek vs. Salem (Class A Advanced) Tucker Davidson (Braves' No. 23), Florida vs. Daytona (Class A Advanced) Nick Raquet (Nationals' No. 16), Hagerstown vs. Rome (Class A) Jasseel De La Cruz (Braves' No. 29), Rome vs. Hagerstown (Class A) Tyler Kolek (Marlins' No. 28), Greensboro vs. Hickory (Class A) Breiling Eusebio (Rockies' No. 13), Asheville vs. Delmarva (Class A) Cameron Bishop (Orioles' No. 16), Delmarva vs. Asheville (Class A) Glenn Otto (Yankees' No. 20), Charleston vs. Lexington (Class A) Travis MacGregor (Pirates' No. 25), West Virginia vs. Greenville (Class A) Wyatt Marks (Athletics' No. 26), Beloit vs. Wisconsin (Class A)

Coleman returns to grounds crew for opener By Scott Merkin /MLB.com / April 6, 2018

CHICAGO -- The Tigers' batting practice came to a close around 2 p.m. CT on Thursday at Guaranteed Rate Field, and it was time for Nevest Coleman to go to work. Actually, Coleman arrived at the ballpark at 6:30 a.m. in anticipation of the White Sox home opener, and he began doing anything and everything asked of him at 7 a.m. Coleman did it with a broad smile and a positive demeanor that carried him through 23 years in jail after being wrongly incarcerated for first- degree murder and aggravated criminal sexual assault. He brought those with him back to his job as part of the White Sox grounds crew.

Coleman, who is now 49, held a similar position at Comiskey Park for one year prior to the conviction and was hired back shortly after DNA testing exonerated him and led to the prosecution dismissing the charges on Dec. 1, 2017. He stood between Jerry Powe and Harry Smith, the only two remaining from his first work with the grounds crew, as Coleman met the media on Thursday.

"I'm with family back at home again," Coleman said. "I feel comfortable around them and I feel comfortable here. I enjoy working here. Like I said, they are my family, brothers. That's what we are."

Upon his arrival on Thursday, Coleman washed windows, picked up trash and did all the things asked of him. His family was going to be at Thursday's game against the Tigers. His son, daughter and three grandchildren kept him looking forward even as he served more than two decades in prison for a crime he didn't commit.

"You sit back and you are locked up, so you just think about what's going on and trying to move forward in life and try to pick out what I'm going to do when I get out," Coleman said. "How am I going to support myself? The White Sox gave me that opportunity.

"For 23 years, I had a strong mind. It was difficult in there, but when I finally came home, all my anger and the misery was gone. I had my family. I saw my son and daughter and my three grandbabies and held them.

"You can't be miserable around them. When I left in '94, I was high spirited and always kept a smile on my face. I came home the same way. You can't change that with me."

In a strange twist, Smith took part in his last , as he will be retiring following 27 years as part of the White Sox.

"I welcome him back," a smiling Smith said, "and tell him goodbye."

After a whirlwind of media attention, Coleman simply was happy to do his job once again.

"It's something that needs to be told," Coleman said of his story being followed by the media. "I appreciate you all telling my story and keeping it going. I appreciate it.".

Here are the Minors' 10 most talented teams By Jim Callis /MLB.com/ April 5, 2018

If talent were the only issue and service-time considerations didn't matter, Ronald Acuna would be starting in the outfield for the Braves right now. He reached and excelled in Triple-A as a 19-year-old in 2017, won every Minor League Player of the Year award, then captured MVP honors in the .

But because it makes too much financial sense for Atlanta to send him back to Triple-A long enough to delay his future free agency (and perhaps his arbitration eligibility as well), Acuna has to settle for being the best prospect in the Minor Leagues, which open play today. He's also part of the most talented team in the Minors to begin the season.

In addition to Acuna, No. 2 behind only Shohei Ohtani, the feature two other members of MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects list. Right-hander (No. 31) has the best control of any hurler on the Top 100 and his stuff continues to get better each year, while left-hander (No. 58) has developed faster than expected since Atlanta made him the first high school selected (14th overall) in the 2015 Draft.

The Stripers are more top-heavy than deep -- outfielder Dustin Peterson is the only other player on our Braves Top 30 -- but stand out with the most formidable trio of prospects anywhere in the Minors. Behind Gwinnett, here's how the most stacked Opening Day rosters in the Minor Leagues line up:

2. Durham Bulls (Rays, Triple-A) Top 100 prospects: 3 Team Top 30 prospects: 9 The features the two most talented rosters in all of the Minors. The Bulls have a very deep lineup headlined by three Top 100 Prospects: middle infielder Willy Adames (No. 22), outfielder/first baseman Jake Bauers (No. 64) and third baseman Christian Arroyo (No. 82). Justin Williams and Joe McCarthy team with Bauers in an all-prospect outfield, while the top pitcher is left-hander Anthony Banda, acquired from the D-backs in the three-team Steven Souza trade in February.

3. Winston-Salem Dash (White Sox, Class A Advanced) Top 100 prospects: 3 Team Top 30 prospects: 6 If outfielder (No. 28) hadn't sprained his left thumb on a slide in Cactus League play, the Dash would be the only club with four healthy Top 100 Prospects. He'll begin the season on Winston- Salem's disabled list and may not play until June, but the team still has right-handers (No. 61) and Dane Dunning (No. 92) plus outfielder (No. 99), all added in trades during the past 16 months. Even without Robert, the Dash can field an all-prospect outfield with Micker Adolfo and Luis Alexander Basabe and have a slugging first baseman in .

4. New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Blue Jays, Double-A) Top 100 prospects: 2 Team Top 30 prospects: 7 The Fisher Cats have the highest-rated tandem of Top 100 Prospects anywhere in third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (No. 3), who ranked second in the Minors with a .425 on-base percentage at age 18 last year, and shortstop Bo Bichette (No. 13), whose .362 average made him the first teenaged Minor League batting champion since 1966. This ranking is more about quality than quantity, though New Hampshire's next-best prospect, right-hander Sean Reid-Foley, is one of the best in the Blue Jays system.

5. San Antonio Missions (Padres, Double-A) Top 100 prospects: 2 Team Top 30 prospects: 6 The Padres have the game's best farm system and this is their most talented affiliate. Shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr. (No. 8) emerged as an elite prospect in 2017, when he slammed 22 homers, stole 32 bases and joined the Missions at the end of his age-18 season. Right-hander (No. 40, owner of the best changeup on the Top 100) and first baseman Josh Naylor also return to San Antonio after finishing there last year, when both played in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. Logan Allen is one of several talented lefties in San Diego's system.

6. (Braves, Double-A) Top 100 prospects: 3 Team Top 30 prospects: 7 The Braves are the only organization to place two clubs on this list, as their highest-level affiliates each have three Top 100 Prospects. Right-hander (No. 30), the fifth overall pick in the 2017 Draft, will begin his first full pro season in Double-A. He'll team with left-hander Max Fried (No. 83) and third baseman (No. 97), plus three former first-rounders of various degrees of progress in righty Touki Toussaint, catcher and second baseman/third baseman Travis Demeritte.

7. Altoona Curve (Pirates, Double-A) Top 100 prospects: 1 Team Top 30 prospects: 10 The Curve may have just one Top 100 Prospect, but they have one-third of the Pirates' Top 30 prospects on their roster, headlined by right-hander Mitch Keller (No. 15), who is the best pitching prospect in Double-A. Third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, shortstop Cole Tucker and outfielder Bryan Reynolds all have Top 100 upside and give Altoona a formidable lineup. Few left-handers can rival 's fastball, which creeps into triple-digit territory.

8. (Athletics, Triple-A) Top 100 prospects: 2 Team Top 30 prospects: 7 Position players comprise the bulk of the Sounds' talent, led by four trade acquisitions. Franklin Barreto (No. 66) has a higher offensive ceiling than most middle infielders, while shortstop/outfielder Jorge Mateo (No. 73) is the fastest player on the Top 100. Dustin Fowler is a potential five-tool center fielder and third baseman Sheldon Neuse was one of the most productive hitters in the Arizona Fall League. Nashville would rank No. 2 on this list if left-hander A.J. Puk (No. 32) had headed to Triple-A rather than injuring his elbow and requiring Tommy John surgery.

9. Clearwater Threshers (Phillies, Class A Advanced) Top 100 prospects: 3 Team Top 30 prospects: 6 If the Phillies hadn't decided to give right-hander Sixto Sanchez (No. 26) some time in extended spring training before sending him to Clearwater, the Threshers would be the only club with four active Top 100 Prospects. They're still loaded, with another live-armed righty in Adonis Medina (No. 86) plus the organization's last two first-round picks. (No. 88), the first overall choice in 2016, and Adam Haseley (No. 95), the eighth overall selection in 2017, will patrol the outfield. Shortstop Arquimedes Gamboa has all-around tools and is poised for a breakout season.

10. Chattanooga Lookouts (Twins, Double-A) Top 100 prospects: 2 Team Top 30 prospects: 9 Left-hander Stephen Gonsalves (No. 79) and middle infielder Nick Gordon (No. 81) possess high floors and have progressed steadily through the Minors. After joining Rafael Palmeiro as the only players ever to win the Southeastern Conference triple crown last spring, outfielder/first baseman Brent Rooker signed as a supplemental first-rounder and hit 18 homers in pro ball. Lefties Lewis Thorpe and Tyler Jay and righties Zack Littell (who led the Minors in wins with a 19-1 record in 2017) and Kohl Stewart add to an intriguing pitching staff.

Tim Anderson drew a walk, and he wants you to know it's a big deal By Jordan Shusterman /MLB.com / April 5, 2018 White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson is off to a strong start in 2018, with three homers in his first six games. What Anderson is not known for, however, is drawing walks -- his 2.1 percent walk rate in 2017 was the lowest among all qualified hitters. So when Anderson drew a walk in the first game of the season, he wanted to make sure people noticed:

Here are some of the other highlights from our favorite players' social media over the past week ...

There's no getting around the cold weather in certain Major League cities at the beginning of the season, but this week brought some especially frigid conditions. The Pirates and Twins managed to play a game in the snow but the Mets and Phillies weren't so fortunate. Tuesday's game at Citi Field was postponed thanks to a healthy amount of snow. Luckily, the players still found a way to enjoy themselves.

The winter weather also made its presence known in Kansas City. Danny Duffy's dog is a bit confused:

You may have heard that Kevin Kiermaier's original plan to fight the cold during Tampa Bay's trip to Yankee Stadium was ... unusual:

Kevin Kiermaier planned on covering himself in petroleum gel to battle the cold weather The Official Site of Major League

However, Tigers catcher James McCann suggested that this is actually standard procedure for chilly big leaguers:

There are so many wonderful Minor League team names across the 30 farm systems in baseball -- players have the opportunity to play for teams like the Rumble Ponies, Jumbo Shrimp and the Lugnuts, among countless others. It appears that Reds prospect Taylor Trammell is very excited to play for the Daytona Tortugas:

Jimenez should return to game action next week By Scott Merkin /MLB.com / April 5, 2018

CHICAGO -- Eloy Jimenez, the White Sox top prospect per MLB Pipeline, should be back in action next week as part of extended spring training after sustaining a mild pectoral strain while lifting weights at Camelback Ranch in Arizona.

"After he gets a few of those under his belt, he'll rejoin [Double-A] Birmingham," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said of the power-packed outfielder. "Mild issue but unfortunate because you obviously don't want to see any guy miss any amount of time.

"He played catch yesterday. He's slowly ramping back up baseball activities. Again, project him playing extended games sometime next week."

Right-handed pitcher Alec Hansen, the team's No. 4 prospect, is starting a throwing program in order to build back up from a forearm muscular issue that surfaced during Spring Training.

"It's actually similar to something that apparently he went through in high school," Hahn said. "So it wasn't a shock to him that he was experiencing this, and obviously it turned out to be something he could put behind him. We wanted to make sure he was 100 percent healthy and pain free before starting to ramp up a throwing program, which we've now done."

Hawk and AJ: Together again As Ken "Hawk" Harrelson began his 34th and final season in the White Sox television broadcast booth, A.J. Pierzynski continued to push for Harrelson to be part of the Hall of Fame. Pierzynski, a key member of the 2005 World Series championship club and now a White Sox ambassador, was in town to throw out a first pitch prior to Thursday's home opener.

Pierzynski and Harrelson have known each other since the catcher was an up-and-coming player in high school. He pointed out Harrelson's catchphrases as part of people's everyday vernacular outside of baseball, but Pierzynski also loves Harrelson's White Sox passion.

"He genuinely cared about the White Sox every game," Pierzynski said. "That's the thing you try to portray. If you really do care about the game, you care about what's happening and you care about when guys do it right. That was a big thing for me always was doing it right, playing it right.

"Always on the broadcast, you can feel that when you watch. I said it earlier, him not being there even now, I turn on games and I know he's not going to do it, but I turn it on, Jason [Benetti] is doing great, [Steve] Stone is great, but for some reason when I turn on a White Sox game, it hurts my heart a little bit not to hear his voice. It still gets to me every time because it's so different."

Harrelson said there was no plan to take an extra look around on his last Opening Day in the booth.

"Every Opening Day is different," Harrelson said. "It's something I look forward to, but after the first inning or two, poof, it's gone. Then you're right into the game."

The duo still plans to broadcast a game together this season, probably sometime in August. Thursday's best: Athletics prospects thrive for Nashville By William Boor/ MLB.com / April 5, 2018

Triple-A Nashville got off to a fast start this season thanks to performances from some of the Athletics' top prospects.

Franklin Barreto, Jorge Mateo, Dustin Fowler and James Naile each put together impressive performances as the Sounds cruised to an 11-0 win over the Baby Cakes on Opening Day.

While Naile, Oakland's No. 25 prospect, spun a gem over five scoreless innings on the mound, the trio of position players combined to go 7-for-14 with eight RBIs.

Barreto (No. 66 overall, Athletics' No. 3) put the Sounds on the board early, hitting a two-run homer in the third. The second baseman also drove in a run via a sacrifice fly in the fourth on his way to finishing 2-for- 4 with three RBIs.

Mateo (No. 73 overall, Athletics' No. 4) also collected a pair of hits in his Triple-A debut. Hitting atop the Sounds' lineup, the 22-year-old went 2-for-5, scored twice and drove in three runs.

While Mateo was making his Triple-A debut, Fowler (Athletics' No. 5), who was acquired while on the disabled list at last year's Trade Deadline, was making his organizational debut. Fowler got off to a good start, singling in his first at-bat, and just kept on hitting on his way to a 3-for-5, two-RBI performance.

Barreto blasts off

Other top prospect performances from Thursday's Opening Day action:

• No. 29 overall prospect Juan Soto (Nationals' No. 2) started the season in the best way possible, lifting a two-run homer out to left in his first at-bat. The 19-year-old, who hit just three homers in 2017 (32 games), finished 1-for-4.

Soto opens year with a homer

• No. 44 overall prospect Estevan Florial (Yankees' No. 2) came up with a pair of run-scoring hits in Class A Advanced Tampa's win over Lakeland. The 20-year-old, who finished 2-for-5, drove in a run with an RBI single in the seventh and collected another RBI via a ninth-inning triple.

• No. 81 overall prospect Nick Gordon (Twins' No. 4) showed off both his speed and bat, going 4-for-5 with a triple and an RBI for Double-A Chattanooga. Gordon, who hit .270 in 122 games with the Lookouts a season ago, tripled and scored in the first and then singled in three of his final four at-bats.

• No. 92 overall prospect Dane Dunning (White Sox No. 6) was stuck with a no-decision, but he put together an impressive outing for Class A Advanced Winston-Salem. The 23-year-old right-hander struck out eight and gave up three hits as he cruised through five innings of one-run ball.

• Brewers No. 10 prospect Freddy Peralta put up nothing but zeros for five innings on Opening Day. The right-hander, who was making his Triple-A debut, struck out six, walked two and gave up just one hit.

• A pair of Indians pitchers combined for 17 over 12 innings as No. 8 prospect Shane Bieber fanned nine in six scoreless innings and No. 28 Elijah Morgan struck out eight over six innings as well. Bieber, pitching for Double-A Akron, gave up two hits and didn't allow a run, while Morgan gave up just one unearned run on four hits for Class A Lake County.

Bieber fans ninth batter

• Rockies prospects Colton Welker (No. 4) and Willie Abreu (No. 27) combined to go 5-for-6 with three homers and six RBIs to lead Class A Advanced Lancaster to a win over Modesto. Welker drove in the first run of the game with an RBI single in the first, but the duo really helped break the game open when they hit back-to-back homers in the second. The homer was the first of the night for Abreu, who also went deep in the sixth as part of a 3-for-3, four-RBI evening. Meanwhile, Welker finished 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs.

• A trio of Royals prospects, led by No. 3 Seuly Matias, showed off their power as they combined for four homers and five RBIs. Matias rounded the bases twice as he hit a pair of solo homers for Class A Lexington. However, he wasn't alone as Gabriel Cancel (No. 22) went 2-for-4 with a homer and a double for Class A Advanced Wilmington and Samir Duenez (No. 30) also went 2-for-4 with a double and a homer for Double-A Northwest Arkansas.

Matias smacks second homer

• Tigers prospects Beau Burrows (No. 4) and Gregory Soto (No. 8) were dominant on the mound for Double-A Erie and Class A Advanced Lakeland. Burrows led Erie to a win as he struck out six and gave up just one hit over five scoreless frames. Soto, despite the strong effort, was stuck with a no-decision after fanning five over five scoreless innings of his own.

Burrows rings up sixth K

• Orioles No. 15 prospect Michael Baumann posted a career-high 10 strikeouts in a season-opening win with Class A Delmarva. Baumann, who posted a 1.28 ERA across 11 appearances last season, struck out the first two batters he faced, setting the tone for the dominant performance. The righty carved his way though five scoreless innings, walking one and yielding four hits.

• Red Sox No. 30 prospect Jhonathan Diaz started the season with a win for Class A Greenville. Diaz struck out the side in both the fourth and fifth innings and fanned at least one batter in each frame, finishing with nine over six scoreless innings. The left-hander walked one and gave up two hits. Sanchez's big day for naught as 'pen loses lead By Scott Merkin/MLB.com / April 5, 2018

CHICAGO -- If the White Sox consider themselves better than a team in Year 2 of a rebuild this season, then they will need more consistent bullpen work than what was on display during a 9-7 loss to the Tigers in 10 innings on Thursday at Guaranteed Rate Field. Nate Jones, Joakim Soria, Gregory Infante and combined to allow six runs over the final three innings, ruining the South Siders' home opener on a blustery and snowy day in Chicago.

Soria, who had converted each of his first two saves in 2018, yielded three runs on four hits in the ninth, with Niko Goodrum's first career homer cutting a 7-4 lead to 7-6 and Victor Martinez's double to left scoring Nicholas Castellanos with the game-tying run. Both hits came with two outs.

"I felt my stuff was all right. I felt my stuff was in place," said Soria, who blew his first save since July 29, 2017, at Boston. "Obviously the is the one they hit hard, but the other ones they didn't hit the ball hard. And that's the reason -- it was in no man's land. If they hit it a little harder, we had the third out."

Added White Sox manager Rick Renteria: "Today we just fell a little short. I thought we had all the right pieces in the right places. It just didn't work out."

Jones gave up one run in the eighth and was bailed out of further trouble when third baseman Yolmer Sanchez turned Jose Iglesias' grounder into an inning-ending double play with runners on first and second. Sanchez, who tripled twice and drove in three, grabbed the grounder on the in-between hop, stepped on third and threw to first.

Matt Davidson finished 2-for-3 with two walks, four runs scored and one RBI, while Avisail Garcia and Leury Garcia each added two hits. Those strong performances were pushed aside by the bullpen's struggles.

It's a tough loss overall, taking a three-run lead into the ninth and being one out away from victory. But it's one the White Sox want to move on from quickly.

"We came out banging the ball, but unfortunately, our back end of the bullpen didn't do their job tonight," said White Sox starter James Shields, who was in line for the win after giving up three runs over five innings. "Those guys are veterans and they're really good back there, and I know they're going to come back."

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Moncada misses: Even down to their final out in the 10th inning, the White Sox would not go quietly against . Omar Narvaez walked and pinch-hitter Nicky Delmonico was hit by a pitch, setting up as the game-winning run. But Moncada swung through two curves and a four- seam fastball for his fourth to finish an 0-for-6 showing. Moncada's average dropped to .154, with a team-high 11 strikeouts over 26 at-bats.

Letting one go: The boxscore and gamecast will credit Martinez with a game-tying, two-out double in the ninth off of Soria, but left fielder Leury Garcia helped the Tigers' cause. Martinez's slicing line drive down the line got past Garcia and rolled to the wall, allowing Castellanos to easily score from first. If Garcia keeps the ball in front of him, the tying run doesn't score on the play.

QUOTABLE "There's not many times you pitch in the snow, and it was snowing pretty good for a few innings there. It was a tough day to pitch, tough day to play baseball in general. It's unfortunate." --Shields, on Thursday's weather conditions

MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY The White Sox initially had the forceout at second base on Martin's ground ball, but the Tigers challenged, arguing that Tim Anderson wasn't near second base when he received the throw from Moncada. After review, the ruling was overturned, and Iglesias was safe at second. The review led to a crucial add-on run when Jeimer Candelario singled in Iglesias three pitches later.

ANDERSON'S HUSTLE Anderson used his legs to manufacture a run in the second inning. Anderson opened with a single, then swiped second base to improve to 4-for-4 this season. He moved to third on Narvaez's grounder to second and scored on 's sacrifice fly to center field. Anderson beat the throw from Leonys Martin with a head-first slide on a good send by third-base coach . According to Statcast™, based on Martin being in center, the shallowest edge of the "decision zone" for Anderson -- where he could consider running -- would be 255 feet. The fly ball was hit 250 feet. Anderson recorded a sprint speed of 31.0 feet per second (anything 30-plus is elite speed), going third to home in 3.61 seconds.

FOR OPENERS Shields became the first White Sox pitcher since Mark Buehrle in 2002 to start a season opener and home opener in the same season (on different days). Shields started and won the season opener in Kansas City.

WHAT'S NEXT takes the mound following Friday's off-day for a 1:10 p.m. CT first pitch on Saturday against the Tigers. Giolito admittedly did not have his best stuff last Saturday against the Royals, but he limited them to three runs over six innings. As Hawk Harrelson starts final year in White Sox booth, A.J. Pierzynski says not hearing him 'hurts my heart' Vinnie Duber /NBC Sports Chicago / April 5, 2018

Thursday marks the beginning for the end for the White Sox legendary broadcaster. Or as A.J. Pierzynski dubbed it: "The Year of the Hawk."

Hawk Harrelson was at Guaranteed Rate Field for the White Sox home opener, the first game of his final season in the booth. The 2018 will serve as quite the sendoff for the longtime voice of the South Siders, with his face already plastered on the media guide, a Star Wars themed bobblehead giveaway set for later this season and much more in terms of goodbye festivities.

But perhaps the most anticipated part of the Hawk sendoff will be the promised team-up in the booth with Pierzynski.

The former White Sox catcher has his own broadcasting career underway, working with FOX, but on the South Side in his capacity as one of the White Sox new ambassadors Thursday, he once again talked about how excited he is to call a game with Harrelson this summer.

“I’ll move heaven and earth to do a game with him,” Pierzynski said. “It’s always kind of been a dream of mine to do a game with him. I’ve said this for a long time, he’s the best. How he’s not in the Hall of Fame still, I don’t understand. He deserves it, for all the things that he’s brought to baseball, not only playing, but as a commentator and a play-by-play guy. I mean, if you just watch any TV show or anything on media, you see people using the things that he came up with, like ‘he gone,’ ‘put it on the board,’ people say it all the time just in everyday language. So just for that alone he should be in the Hall of Fame.

“And then to be able to sit down next to him and do three hours, I can listen to his stories, I can tee him up and Hawk can knock ‘em down. It’ll be like bowling. I’ll set all the pins up, he comes in, bowls 300.”

To which Harrelson shouted out: “Pin boy!”

Harrelson and Pierzynski are longtime associates, their friendship stretching way back, long before Pierzynski played for the White Sox. In just the last six months, each has voiced support for the Hall-of- Fame candidacies of the other, another recurring theme Thursday.

Pierzynski, whose playing career ended after the 2016 season, has taken plenty of inspiration from Harrelson. Unsurprisingly, most of what’s impressed Pierzynski about Harrelson is the latter’s emotional attachment to the team and the game.

“His passion,” Pierzynski said. “It’s a little different. He gets to see a team for a whole season, and I walk into a place for one day and try to do the whole season in one game. But the passion that he brought every day was what I admired more than anything because he would generally care. People would be like, ‘He’s full of crap.’ He genuinely cared about the White Sox every game.

“That’s the thing you try to portray. If you really do care about the game, you care about what’s happening and you care about when guys do it right. That was a big thing for me always was doing it right, playing it right. Always on the broadcast, you can feel that when you watch.

“Him not being there, even now. I turn on games and I know he’s not going to do it, but I turn it on, Jason’s doing great, Stone is great, but for some reason when I turn on a White Sox game it hurts my heart a little bit not to hear his voice. It still gets to me every time because it’s so different.”

While Harrelson has always been a polarizing, love-him-or-hate-him figure in Chicago and even within the White Sox fan base, there’s no doubt that South Side baseball without Harrelson will be a strange sound, considering it hasn’t happened in decades.

What will be the most different, though, will be the removal of Harrelson’s proud homerism from the broadcast booth. It might be missed by some fans. It won’t be missed at all by others. It likely won’t be missed by big league umpires who have so often been the target of some of Harrelson’s more fiery complaints.

“Everybody I ever (worked) for gave me the leeway and the flexibility to be myself and say what I wanted to say,” Harrelson said. “Now, (White Sox chairman Jerry) Reinsdorf on numerous occasions has gotten on my behind about umpires. ‘Hey, lay off the umpires.’

“But to me, umpiring is an integral part of the game, obviously. Just like a player. We’ve got good players, we’ve got mediocre players, we’ve got bad players. You’ve got good umpires, you’ve got mediocre umpires, you’ve got bad umpires. And the only thing that really got me about umpires was if they didn’t hustle, if they didn’t bust their butt. But I’ve been lucky in being able to have flexibility.” Meet the machines: Home opener ends in loss, but White Sox 'prove it' players continue hot starts By Vinnie Duber/NBC Sports Chicago / April 5, 2018

Meet the machines.

The White Sox are off to a 3-3 start after Thursday's 9-7 extra-inning loss to the in the home opener. The bullpen's meltdown will get plenty of attention, but it was perhaps a perfect example of where the priorities lie in this developmental season. No matter what the win-loss record looks like by season's end, general manager Rick Hahn wants to see young players progress. And that's exactly what some of these guys are doing, putting on some impressive offensive displays here in the season's early going.

It was definitely the case Thursday, with the White Sox banging out 11 hits, spraying all over the field as the snowflakes fell from the sky.

Meet Matt Davidson, the on-base machine.

Davidson has garnered plenty of attention for his power stroke in the season's first week. He hit three homers on Opening Day and added another earlier this week in Toronto. His season total would've reached five in any other weather Thursday, as he drove a fifth-inning double high off the wall instead of over it. But Davidson has been doing something that hasn't earned as much attention but is certainly more important to his long-term prospects on this team: He's getting on base. He walked twice Thursday, his fourth and fifth free passes of the season, remarkable considering he had just 19 of them in 2017. After those two walks and two hits against the Tigers, Davidson's on-base percentage sits at .444 through six games. It was .260 last season. Obviously, getting on base more means scoring more, and Davidson scored four times Thursday.

Meet Tim Anderson, the base-running machine.

Anderson is fast, but he stole just 15 bases last season while playing in 146 games. Well, he's off to the races in 2018, with four steals after swiping second base in the second inning Thursday. In fact, he put on a base-running clinic that inning, singling, stealing second, moving to third on a grounder and finally using his speed to rush home and slide in on a pretty shallow sacrifice fly. Getting on base was a struggle for Anderson in 2017, too, just like Davidson, and he's already seeing some improvement in that category, as well. He also walked twice Thursday after doing so just 13 times in all of last season. The more he gets on base, the more he'll be able to use that speed and create runs.

Meet Yolmer Sanchez, the triples machine.

Sanchez led the White Sox with eight triples last season. He's already a quarter of the way to matching that total after hitting a pair of them Thursday. Sanchez picked up three hits to add to his 2018 total. He was 5-for-15 with four RBIs coming into the game. He's now 8-for-19 with seven RBIs.

All this stuff of course comes with the "small sample size" caveat. But it's a great sign for the White Sox to see these guys starting off their "prove it" seasons strong. Davidson, Anderson and Sanchez all entered 2018 with varying levels of questions about their ability to stay in the long-term picture of this rebuilding franchise. The longer they can continue to succeed at the plate, the longer they'll keep themselves in that conversation. Bullpen meltdown in home opener begs the question: Will there be more days like this for White Sox? By Vinnie Duber/NBC Sports Chicago / April 5, 2018

The White Sox aren’t going to lose every game this way.

The defeat at the hands of the visiting Detroit Tigers in Thursday’s home opener was particularly gut- wrenching, the White Sox holding a four-run lead entering the eighth inning only for Nate Jones and Joakim Soria to cough that lead up over two innings. The Tigers plated two more in the 10th to send the South Siders to a brutal loss in their first home game of the campaign.

They won’t all go that way, but should White Sox fans be prepared for more outcomes like this in 2018?

Remember, this is a team not expected to contend for a championship this season, a team that prepared itself and its fans for a developmental year at all levels of the organization, including the major league level. Things went just fine in that department Thursday, with Matt Davidson, Tim Anderson and Yolmer Sanchez all having big days and continuing the hot starts to their “prove it” seasons.

But the other half of that equation is, perhaps, a good deal of losing. And that’s where a reconstructed bullpen comes in, at least that’s where it came in Thursday, White Sox relievers tagged for six runs over the game’s final three innings. It’s twice now in this 3-3 season that the bullpen has been to blame for a defeat. Danny Farquhar gave up a lead in Toronto earlier this week. (For what it’s worth, Farquhar was great Thursday, striking out three of the four batters he faced.)

We’re just a week into this season, and jumping to season-long conclusions from anything we’ve seen so far is a futile enterprise. But after Rick Hahn’s front office traded away most of the relief corps last summer, the bullpen was a question mark coming into 2018. Looking for the next flippable asset, the White Sox acquired Soria and Luis Avilan this offseason. Soria converted each of his first two save opportunities. Thursday, he gave up four hits and three runs.

“You have to be able to make adjustments and still perform. I didn’t do it today,” Soria said. “We lost the game, and that’s what’s important.

“You have to move on and go for the next outing. Try to come back the next day and try to do your best like I did. Every time I take the mound, I try to do the best I can to help this team win. Today, unfortunately, I had a little bad luck. “It is hard to lose a lead, a three-run lead, but you have to let it go. If you don’t adjust in this game, you are not going to last long.”

Soria has the blessing of experience, and perhaps that will help him make this anomaly rather than the beginning of a trend. And it’s perfectly reasonable to expect both Jones and Soria to bounce back nicely. After all, Jones was lights out in his first two appearances of the season and Soria had two scoreless outings under his belt, too.

“Listen, you’re going to have games like that. We’re going to have games that we end up coming out on top on the other end,” manager Rick Renteria said. “Jonesy and Joakim, I'm confident they're going to have better days than this. They’ve shown us what they’re capable of doing. Today, this one just got away.”

But fans have already decided where to direct their ire. The bullpen is already a hot-button issue just six games into a 162-game season. And while Jones and Soria, two veteran relievers with the most difficult jobs in that bullpen, are capable of flushing Thursday and coming back strong, they aren’t the only ones who have had bad days in this young season.

Gregory Infante, who took the extra-inning loss Thursday, has allowed seven runs in 1.2 innings. Juan Minaya gave up two in his one inning of work. Hector Santiago and Soria have each allowed three runs on the season. Luis Avilan and Farquhar have each given up two. The only White Sox reliever without a run to their name this season — which is just six games old — is Aaron Bummer.

All in all, White Sox relievers have an 8.55 ERA on the 2018 season, the second-worst in baseball as of this writing.

The White Sox won’t lose every game this way. But in a season that’s expected to end with its fair share of losses, maybe this is a sort of sign of things to come.

Daily White Sox prospects update: Dane Dunning strikes out eight in opener By Vinnie Duber/NBC Sports Chicago / April 5, 2018

Here's your daily update on what the White Sox highly touted prospects are doing in the minor leagues.

Class A Winston-Salem

Dane Dunning allowed one run over five innings and struck out eight in Winston-Salem's loss to Carolina. On the offensive side, Luis Alexander Basabe and Blake Rutherford each had two-hit days for the Dash, with Basabe doubling. Alex Call and Gavin Sheets each scored twice, and Micker Adolfo picked up an RBI.

Class A Kannapolis

Last year's sixth-round draft pick Kade McClure had an impressive start to the season, striking out 10 batters over seven innings in Kannapolis' win over Lakewood. He allowed three runs on four hits and two walks.

Double-A Birmingham Seby Zavala reached base three times, with a double and a pair of walks in Birmingham's win over Chattanooga. Zavala also drove in two runs. Fellow Barons catcher drew three walks and drove in a run. Meanwhile, pitcher Spencer Adams allowed four runs in his five-inning start.

Triple-A Charlotte

Ryan Cordell had a hit, a run and an RBI, and Charlie Tilson had two hits in Charlotte's win over Durham. Casey Gillaspie had a hit, a run, an RBI and a walk. And Daniel Palka had a two-hit day with a pair of runs scored. Dylan Covey struck out six in his five-inning win.

Deflating home opener reveals Sox bullpen will rely on Nate Jones and Joakim Soria while taking auditions elsewhere By James Fegan / The Athletic/ April 6, 2018

If it's all in fun to trumpet Matt Davidson as a new man after six games and wonder if utility man Yolmer Sánchez can bop his way into a long-term role in the organization, then in the wake of a spoiled home opener it's probably fair to address concerns about the White Sox bullpen.

After handing a 7-3 lead against the rebuilding Tigers to Nate Jones and Joakim Soria to start the eighth, the White Sox lost 9-7 in 10 innings, and now their relief corps has allowed 19 earned runs in 20 innings, which is eye-opening in its own right.

The White Sox are rebuilding, in case that story hasn't gained traction over the last year or two, and typically paying for certainty in the bullpen to lock down close games is not a wise investment if the high- leverage opportunities for top relievers are not going to be there. There's an argument that once the payroll is as low as the Sox have gotten it — Cot's Contracts estimated the Sox's Opening Day 25-man roster at around $71 million — that taking on some high-priced relievers as assets to possibly be flipped is a worthwhile practice too, and that strategy is in place with the Sox trading for Soria's $9 million salary this offseason. But for the most part, they have resigned themselves to pre-arbitration guys and minor league free agents, in the search of the next guy who pops up and proves themselves worthy of high- leverage … someone like Anthony Swarzak.

Until that emergence takes place, the easiest thing to figure out for Renteria has been throwing some combination of Soria and Jones at the highest-leverage innings. While Renteria would quibble with the idea that he's tipped his hand in all three save scenarios he's faced in the young 2018 season, so far he's leaned on Soria's 206 career saves of experience in the ninth inning, and used Jones for what would otherwise be described as the most difficult outs of the game.

“It's worked out to this point,” Renteria said, prior to Soria allowing three runs in the ninth Thursday for his first blown save of the year. “There are times you might see Joakim in the eighth and Nate in the ninth. There are a lot of different variables involved. So far using them in that situation has helped us immensely, obviously.”

The variables have been pretty static so far. In the second game of the season, Jones came on and sliced through the Royals' 3-4-5 hitters before Soria waded through a choppy ninth for the save. In Wednesday's finale in Toronto, Jones came in with two outs in the seventh to face Josh Donaldson, punched his glove in frustration when Donaldson lifted a warning-track fly to center, and stayed in to face the Blue Jays' 3-4-5 hitters before giving way to a more dominant-looking ninth inning from Soria. And in Thursday's home opener, Jones was warming to face 4-5-6 in the Tigers' order before Leury García had seemingly put the game out of reach with an RBI double to make it 7-3, but he came in anyway and delivered his shakiest inning of the year.

“Jonesy and Joakim, I'm confident they're going to have better days than this,” Renteria said of his two veterans after their first appearances on back-to-back days this season. “They've shown us what they're capable of doing. Today, this one just got away.”

Nate Jones has three career saves, all of them coming in 2016. (Amy Kontras/USA TODAY Sports) The use of Soria in the ninth inning may not be dogmatic, and Renteria has already given himself the space to start varying things if he continues to struggle. But the way Jones is being deployed looks like there's a pretty specific idea in mind so far, and he's already the best fallback option on the roster.

“Nate’s outstanding,” general manager Rick Hahn said. “He fills that fireman role for us even if he’s not going to wind up racking up gaudy save numbers, which he might, depending on how Ricky uses him. It’s going to be most likely the guy to get the most important outs on a nightly basis. Got a key out with Donaldson and then through the heart of the order in the eighth, to set up a save in the ninth. That’s a huge role on any successful club and we’re thrilled to see he’s back healthy and playing important roles we project him to do for the next several years.”

Despite his long career history, and having way more seniority and experience compared to the rest of the bullpen, Soria is very diplomatic about the closer role and places no claims upon it. Yet when asked if there's an importance to guys in the bullpen knowing their roles, and having that in mind when they prepare themselves for the day, Soria acknowledged it's a thing.

“It’s important, it’s important,” Soria said. “You prepare yourself for that situation. You know who you are facing and it gives you a little time to read the game and to see strategies so you can face whatever hitter is coming.”

Jones has the most traditional late-inning right-handed reliever arsenal. He sits in the upper-90s and throws a hard slider, and typically is useful against any lineup's top right-handers. Soria comes off as more deceptive. Given Soria was throwing as hard as ever last season in his 11th year in the majors, it's not so much a product of losing life on his stuff as hailing from an era when not every late-inning reliever threw 95 mph. Still, it's uncommon to see a 68-mph curve come tumbling out in the ninth inning very often, which is something he relies on.

“Yesterday he threw a 68-mph curveball, came back with a 91-mph fastball and it was like he was throwing 150 mph,” Renteria said Thursday. “The ability to be able to change the eyesight, the eye level and the perception of velocities is huge, so when you can command the zone, and use various pitches to do that, it's effective.”

It's not traditional, and in two out of three outings this year, Soria has looked downright shaky, but for the opening weeks and months, he and Jones dwarf the track records of the rest of the group in terms of earning late-inning opportunities, and will probably be leaned on hard until that Swarzak candidate emerges. For the most part, the White Sox have inexpensively assembled guys with the ingredients to be good — rather than overpaid for certainty they don't necessarily need — but not the recent success to demand eighth- and ninth-inning opportunities.

Danny Farquhar still has all the fastball carry in the world, has looked sharp in three of his four outings and has 18 major league saves under his belt, but his rough two-homer night in Toronto harkened back to some of the homer issues he had in Tampa. He seems the most likely of the current group to enter into the Jones and Soria rotation. Aaron Bummer and Luis Avilán are both lefty specialists, and while Avilán's changeup makes him more variable, neither seems likely to expand Renteria's end-of-game options. Héctor Santiago is a long man/spare starter on the roster and the Sox will want to keep him stretched out. The wild cards would be Juan Minaya and Gregory Infante, who both throw very hard and distinguished themselves well enough in last year's stripped-down 'pen to get major league jobs this year, but figure to give way to veterans stashed in Triple-A or rising prospects if they cannot help Renteria expand his end- of-game menu.

Until something develops, the White Sox will have to wear games like Thursday's opener, which Soria says could have easily gone differently if the Tigers hit him a little harder and their bloop carried longer through the snow and wind, because it's the only proven high-leverage formula they have. And with that, they're going to have to deal with the struggles of the rest of the group as they test who is worthy enough to join Soria and Jones.

Someday soon, tough White Sox losses will be harder to swallow. Today is not that day. By Lauren Comitor / The Athletic/ April 6, 2018

Expectations for rebuilding teams can only be so high in early April, so the White Sox’s 3-2 record heading into their home opener, good enough for first place in the AL Central, would seem good enough for most.

Except for one person.

“I’ve watched all the games on this road trip,” broadcaster Hawk Harrelson said before the game. “If we make a couple of defensive plays, we come back off this road trip [4]-1 instead of 3-2.”

Now, the White Sox are 3-3 after a tough 9-7 loss to the Detroit Tigers in 10 innings at Guaranteed Rate Field on Thursday afternoon. Say what you will about Harrelson, but it’s that kind of optimism that will continue to power the rebuild in its second year — especially through difficult losses like this one, in which the Sox were one out away from a three-run home Opening Day victory.

Instead, closer Joakim Soria, who’d given up only one hit and no runs in his previous two innings of work, failed to notch his third save of the season. The Tigers rallied to send the game to extras, scored again off Aaron Bummer in the 10th, and snuffed out a near White Sox rally in the bottom half of the inning.

Getting off to a good start record-wise would’ve been nice, but it’s clear the White Sox have other priorities. While the team on Thursday played with the aggressiveness and intensity of a contender, the organization is still in the thick of its rebuild, and 2018 ostensibly marks the final season during which any talk of contention seems far-fetched. There’s still a sizeable margin for error, where a blown save and an extra-inning loss are hardly the end of the world.

“On a nightly basis you try not to live and die with the wins and losses but we’re also competitors, and even in spring training we want to win every game or at least see a clean game executed that puts yourself in position to win,” general manager Rick Hahn said before the game. “There will be times as there were last year where we may wind up on the wrong side of things from a win and loss standpoint but there are going to be signs of encouragement for the future. There will be signs of progress, whether it’s [Lucas] Giolito or [Reynaldo] Lopez, [Yoan] Moncada or any of the young guys establishing themselves as part of the future, there are going to be small victories along the way.

“We take a great deal of pride in how this team has played every game over the last year-plus in terms of grinding out at-bats, being relentless and being prepared to go about their business in a certain way with a certain level of intensity we can be proud of and that needs to endure, that’s a positive that we’re going to take. But we’re still competitors, we still want to win championships, we want to get as quickly as possible to do that.”

Thursday’s loss was just one of those nights, of which there will be many over the next 156 games. And while the White Sox have been clear in their desire to be as patient as possible, there will come a time — potentially later this year as the next wave of prospects arrives — when the tide shifts and such losses become a little harder to swallow as players continue to develop individually and as a team.

A.J. Pierzynski and Hawk Harrelson will do a White Sox broadcast together later this summer. Pierzynski is a full-time analyst for Fox Sports. (James Fegan/The Athletic) But for as much as the focus is on the future, the past is often inescapable, especially during the home opener. A.J. Pierzynski was on hand to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, which Harrelson caught, foreshadowing their future one-game-only broadcast partnership, set for later this season.

The pair held court before the game and Harrelson’s final Opening Day broadcast in what will be a shortened, 20-game season for the 76-year-old. Harrelson reminisced several times, as he is wont to do, about the highlights of his baseball life, namely playing in the 1967 World Series and watching the White Sox win it in 2005.

But the fact is it’s been 13 years since the White Sox won their championship, and 10 since their last postseason appearance. The team hasn’t had a winning record since the 2012 season. No matter how much everyone loves to memorialize that magical 2005 season (Harrelson did at least once during Thursday’s broadcast), fans are ready for the next chapter.

As Matt Davidson, who went 2-for-3 and scored four runs, said after the game, Opening Day is more for the fans than anyone else — the players, after all, would most likely prefer not to ride around in Mustang convertibles in 40-degree weather. The players also aren’t thinking about the fact that they’re not supposed to compete in 2018.

“I think the players don't see themselves in it,” Renteria said of the rebuild. “They won't even use the word. They see themselves as coming out and trying to compete every single day and trying to win as many games as possible.”

Most athletes tend to find motivation in low outside expectations — the 2017 White Sox certainly seemed to. Just like last year, the attitude in the clubhouse is very different from those of preseason prognosticators, and that’s a good thing.

“You’ve got anticipation, which is good,” Harrelson said of the beginning of the season. “You’ve got expectation, sometimes, which is bad. And you have to sort that out as a fan of the game and as a player and as everybody else.”

With little in the way of expectations, the 2018 White Sox are in a solid place, built to withstand the struggles like they endured Thursday. It’s a crucial season for the future of the rebuild, and it’s the Summer of Hawk, but before the White Sox know it, Harrelson will be watching on TV just like everybody else, expecting to see the kind of Sox team that’s built for more than just one magical World Series run.

White Sox prospects are off and running, provided they're healthy By James Fegan / The Athletic/ April 6, 2018

All four White Sox full season affiliates played their first games of the season Thursday night, which means they had to finalize their rosters sometime before first pitch. As it turns out, even without Eloy Jiménez, Luis Robert and Alec Hansen in action, the White Sox system has enough to fill out a prospect update.

Jiménez should be playing in games against overmatched competition in extended spring training next week as he recovers from his pectoral strain, before he sets upon overmatched competition at Double-A.

“After he gets a few of those under his belt he'll rejoin Birmingham,” Rick Hahn said. “Mild issue but unfortunate because you obviously don't want to see any guy miss any amount of time. Played catch yesterday. He's slowly ramping back up baseball activities.”

Less specific is the return timeline for right-hander Alec Hansen, who appeared in one Cactus League game on March 1, was shut down a few days later with forearm soreness, and has been awaiting a

“ramping up” process since. Hahn affirmed that Hansen's throwing program has begun, but as he breezes past the initial goal of returning by the start of the season, things are still a little vague. “He has a forearm muscular issue and it's actually similar to something that apparently he went through in high school, so it wasn't a shock to him that he was experiencing this and obviously it turned out to be something he could put behind him,” Hansen said. “We wanted to make sure he was 100 percent healthy and pain free before starting to ramp up a throwing program, which we've now done.”

Triple-A Charlotte

Determined not to see their starting rotation referred to as Michael & The Kopechs, the Knights are starting the season with Dylan Covey, Chris Volstad, Donn Roach and T.J. House in their first games per their website. Covey struck out six and walked one over five innings of one-run ball in the season opener, which would generate more excitement had he not been thrown in an impossible situation and struggled in the major league limelight all of last season.

Charlie Tilson and Daniel Palka both recorded multi-hit nights in the Knights' debut, and both got starts in the outfield alongside Ryan Cordell while Jacob May was a reserve and Matt Skole served as DH. Most interestingly, Tyler Danish has been moved to the bullpen to begin the season. Bruce Rondón finished the game and should get a big league look this year, but Danish should be in the mix for the major league bullpen quickly if he takes to the role.

Double-A Birmingham

Spencer Adams struggled, giving up a homer and four runs in five innings while getting the Opening Day start, but he didn't walk anyone and threw 50 of 78 pitches for strikes, so it seems like he's still the same guy. He had a late start to his preparation for the season, and his saving grace is always being in the zone rather than always missing bats, so allow him some night like this.

Lefty reliever and starter A.J. Puckett start the season listed on the seven-day disabled list, but the Barons are starting the season with a surplus of arms listed on the roster, so wait a bit to panic.

In the first game of their timeshare, Seby Zavala went 1-for-3 with a double and two walks, and Zack Collins had the ultimate Collins line, going 0-for-2 with three walks and a strikeout.

High-A Winston-Salem

The last time Dane Dunning pitched for the Dash, he twirled a seven-inning, one-hit shutout that would have served as a good finale for him at the level. Upon his surprising return to the level, he picked up where he left off, striking out eight and walking two over five innings of one-run ball. Facing Brewers top prospect Keston Hiura — who is also overqualified for High-A — Dunning held him 0-for-3 and struck him out twice. His stuff might be good enough to play against higher end talent.

Blake Rutherford, Luis Basabe, Yermin Mercedes and Yeyson Yrizarri all had multi-hit nights in the opener. Bernardo Flores, Dylan Cease and will follow Dunning in the rotation.

Right-handers Blake Hickman and Luis Martinez, after starting mostly in Kannapolis last year, are listed as being members of the Winston-Salem bullpen.

Low-A Kannapolis

Multiple scouts stressed last year's sixth-round pick Kade McClure as a guy to watch this year, but it feels a lot more real after the 6-foot-7 right-hander out of Louisville started off the season with 10 strikeouts in seven innings with two earned runs allowed on the opening night. He threw to backstop and seventh- round pick Evan Skoug Thursday. Former 10th-round pick right-hander J.B. Olson is recovering from Tommy John surgery and listed on the 60-day disabled list, while lefty Andre Davis, part of the Melky Cabrera trade, is recovering from knee surgery for a patella issue to star the year. Fifth-rounder Lincoln Henzman and Yosmer Solorzano should factor into the rotation in the meantime.

Third-round pick Luis Gonzalez went 1-for-3 with a walk in the opener, and would be the quickest to get a promotion if not for the logjam in the Winston-Salem outfield. Justin Yurchak started the season playing first base, so it's not clear how dedicated the Sox will be to having him try to stick at third base.

First baseman Corey Zangari and right-hander Will Kincanon not making the Kannapolis roster are interesting omissions.