Brad Penner/US PresswireGavin Floyd's return could stabilize the White Sox's slumping rotation.

CHICAGO – Chicago White Sox starter Gavin Floyd may be back in the rotation as soon as Thursday or Friday of next week. The team will make a decision on Floyd after he throws a side session on Sunday.

Pitching coach Don Cooper also said that unlike some teams, the Sox will not stop their young starters – namely Chris Sale and Jose Quintana -- at a set innings plateau.

“We are in a pennant race, and I believe we are going to win this until somebody proves to me mathematically we can’t,” Cooper said. “It is going to be a grind, it has been already and it will be a dog fight. It happens every season at this time. We have to be the team that withstands the ups and downs. In Chicago, it has always been this way.”

Cooper insisted that he Sox will tough out the rest of the season with the entire staff. Getting Floyd back may allow the rest of the rotation to get an extra day of rest.

“The is the time for all good men, all good pitchers and players to stand up for their team,” Cooper said. “We aren’t thinking about one guy right now, we are a collective unit trying to win every game.”

The White Sox’s method of handling their first-year rotation pitchers is in sharp contrast to the way the Nationals are shutting down Stephen Strasburg and the Cubs taking Jeff Samardziija out of the rotation after Saturdays game.

Floyd will throw curveballs for the first time since going on the DL with a sore elbow Aug 28. If the 30-year-old pitcher completes this part of his rehab successfully, the team will look to implement him back into the rotation.

“If tomorrow goes well for (Floyd), anything could happen,” Cooper said. “He could go Wednesday or Thursday -- maybe Friday. We will cross that bridge when we see how he gets through Sunday.”