A 'surreal' start for Jonathan Cannon marks two good debuts in row for White Sox pitchers

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Jonathan Cannon called his major-league debut “surreal.”

The 23-year-old right-hander allowed one run in five innings Wednesday against the Royals in Game 1 of the doubleheader, and for 79 pitches looked like he should stick around for at least another start.

“What a day,” Cannon said. “This has really been awesome, just a dream come true, really. I was standing on the back of the mound before the game, and just started taking it all in.”

It could have been even more memorable, but Salvador Perez homered with two outs in the eighth inning against Michael Kopech and Hunter Renfroe homered against Dominic Leone in the ninth for an insurance run for a 4-2 victory, dealing the Sox their sixth consecutive loss and dropping them to 2-15. The Sox ended the skid with a 2-1 victory in Game 2.

Cannon, who allowed three hits, struck out three and walked one, threw 54 pitches for strikes. He should have had five scoreless innings, but center fielder Dominic Fletcher slipped coming in on Nelson Velazquez’s liner with two outs in the second, giving Velazquez a double. Adam Frazier followed with an RBI single.

“It was everything I dreamed about coming true, and it was awesome to have my family and friends here to share it with,” Cannon said.

If this sounds familiar, right-hander Nick Nastrini said much of the same thing after he pitched five innings of two-run ball in his debut in the Sox’ previous loss. Nastrini and Cannon became the third pair of Sox pitchers to debut in back-to-back games, the last pair being Charlie Biggs and Fabian Kowalik in 1932.

Nastrini will pitch again Sunday at the Phillies and Cannon’s next start hasn’t been determined yet. The Sox are leaning toward giving him at least one more start.

“We’ll regroup [Thursday, an off day] and we’ll see how we’re going to line this up,” manager Pedro Grifol said.

Cannon isn’t overpowering with low 90s velocity, but his sinker, sweeper and changeup have plenty of movement, and he was around the plate.

“Another strong debut by one of our young guys,” Grifol said. “He came in, pounded the strike zone, did his job. I was proud of him.”

Moncada heading to Arizona

The initial prognosis for third baseman Yoan Moncada’s left adductor strain was that he’d be out for three-to-six months. A few days later, general manager Chris Getz said the damage wasn’t that bad. And on Wednesday, Moncada said his bags are packed for Arizona, where he will begin a rehab process at the team’s spring-training complex. A return after the All-Star break is the goal.

“I never thought my season would be over,” Moncada said through translator Billy Russo.

Some would say the Sox’ season was over when Moncada followed Luis Robert Jr. (Grade 2 right hip flexor strain) to the injured list. They are not only the Sox’ top two defensive players, but the 2-3 hitters in a lineup that was already challenged to score runs. Eloy Jimenez, the cleanup hitter when all three were healthy, just returned from the IL.

“We can’t do anything to help the team,” Moncada said. “You want to because you don’t like what you are seeing result-wise. But sometimes there’s nothing you can do and then that’s the hardest part.”

Paulie, Paulie

Shortstop Paul DeJong had three hits in Game 1, including his third homer. He finished with five hits in the doubleheader to raise his average from .176 to .275. DeJong was one of six starters in Game 1 with an average of .176 or lower.