White Sox' Max Stassi to open season on IL; catcher Korey Lee makes Opening Day roster

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Confirming what was becoming apparent in the final week of camp, catcher Max Stassi will open the season on the injured list and Korey Lee will be on the White Sox’ Opening Day roster.

Stassi, 33, acquired in the offseason to complement another veteran catcher acquisition, Martin Maldonado, didn’t play last season for family reasons and because of a left hip injury hasn’t caught in a Cactus League game since last Wednesday, two days after his previous appearance. Inflammation in his left hip is the reason for the IL stint, the Sox announced.

Lee, 25, earned the nod by showing well defensively after he came to the Sox from the Astros in a trade for Kendall Graveman last season, and by following up a tough stretch at the plate with a good spring offensively. After going 5-for-65 last season, he batted .286/.382/.714 with three homers in 18 games this spring.

“I can’t say enough about what he’s done this spring,” said Sox manager Pedro Grifol, a former minor-league catcher. “He came in focused, hungry and made a ton of improvements everywhere, every single part of the game. Asked for work in offense, defense — you name it. He’s hungrier for information, so he’s going to get a crack at it.”

Stassi is eligible to come off the IL on April 4. The Braves are paying most of his $7 million salary.

“When Stassi is ready to go, we’ll see what happens,” Grifol said.

Roster set Wednesday or Thursday

Because a trade to improve the roster or clear 40-man roster space can’t be ruled out, the Opening Day roster won’t be announced until Wednesday or Thursday. Players on the bubble going into camp who made it, according to sources, are infielder Braden Shewmake, outfielder/first baseman Gavin Sheets and relievers Jordan Leasure, Dominic Leone and Bryan Shaw.

Here’s how the roster is shaping up:

Outfielders: Luis Robert Jr., Andrew Benintendi, Dominic Fletcher, Kevin Pillar, Eloy Jimenez.

Infielders: Yoan Moncada, Paul DeJong, Nicky Lopez, Andrew Vaughn, Shewmake, Sheets.

Catchers: Maldonado, Lee.

Starters: Garrett Crochet, Michael Soroka, Erick Fedde, Chris Flexen. (A fifth starter isn’t needed until the sixth game.)

Relievers: Michael Kopech, John Brebbia, Leasure, Tanner Banks, Tim Hill, Leone, Garcia, Steven Wilson, Shaw.

Final scrimmage

Before catching the team flight to Chicago, the Sox wrapped up camp by being outscored 2-0 in a scrimmage against a Triple-A squad. The teams played less than six innings.

Kopech pitched a perfect inning on the Charlotte side (he’s not going to Charlotte), and Brad Keller, who could join the major-league team in April as he recovers from a shoulder procedure for thoracic outlet syndrome, was sharp in the first two innings against the Sox’ starting lineup.

Second-game starter Soroka pitched five innings, allowing two runs. He threw 73 pitches, including 45 for strikes, and threw more in the bullpen.

Not him

Keller, who hit Tim Anderson as a member of the Royals in 2019 — instigating a fight and receiving a five-game suspension — sent cringes all around Camelback Ranch when he hit Luis Robert Jr. on the left armpad with a changeup, a pitch the staff is encouraging him to develop.

“I’m trying to get my bearings with that pitch,” said Keller, who threw his third “inning” in the bullpen. He’ll pitch four and five innings in Arizona.

“Continuing the build-up process,” he said.