As the White Sox showed on Tuesday when they released John Danks and ate the remaining $12 million on his contract, performance overrides salary this season.

That’s not a warning to Carlos Rodon, but the Sox’s young starting pitcher showed he still has plenty of room to improve during Wednesday night’s 5-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox.

“It’s been up and down,” manager Robin Ventura said after Rodon’s record dropped to 1-4 and his ERA rose to 4.36. “He had the one-inning job (an April 18 loss to the Angels). I think he learns something every time out there.

“There’s something to be gained from it and for him, he’s going to be better for it. He’s got great stuff, a competitor and all that, but you always learn stuff as you’re going through this.”

What did Rodon learn during his 6-inning stint against Boston? “Don’t throw a fastball down the middle to Big Papi,” he said.

David Oritz is in the final year of his standout career, and his 2-run homer off Rodon in the fifth inning put the Red Sox in front 3-2. It was career home run No. 509 for Big Papi, tying the 40-year-old designated hitter with Gary Sheffield for 25th place on the all-time list.

“That’s a Hall of Famer right there,” Rodon said. “I served up a cookie to him and he hit it pretty deep.”

Jose Abreu went deep in the first inning, hitting a 2-run shot off Boston starter Clay Buchholz while extending his hitting streak to eight games. But that was the extent of the White Sox’s offense.

“He’s a great pitcher,” leadoff man Adam Eaton said of Buchholz. “He just started off not all that hot. But he came in and did exactly what we thought he was going to do.

“He can command the strike zone with all five, four pitches that he has. We got off well there, Jimmy (Rollins) getting on and Jose hitting a homer, but we can’t stop there. You know, as an offense you can’t stop there.”

Day to day:

Designated hitter Avisail Garcia said his right hamstring is feeling better but not quite good enough to play. “Why push it and be out for the rest of the season?” he said.

Garcia has missed four games with the injury but has not yet been put on the disabled list.

“He still has something there, so you’re a little nervous using him for a game and having him try to beat something out and sprint,” manager Robin Ventura said.

Grip and rip:

Much has been made of Adam Eaton’s stellar defense as the Sox’s new right fielder this season.

In April, Eaton led the majors with 13 defensive runs saved while showing off a powerful throwing arm that helped start a 9-3-2-6-2-5 triple play against the Texas Rangers on April 22.

Imagine how well Eaton is going to be throwing when his left shoulder is 100 percent.

“It’s still getting back,” said Eaton, who had shoulder surgery at the end of the 2015 season. “The lack of arm strength in the last year or so is coming back. It still has room to improve, and I think it will.

“I still don’t have any muscle back there, it’s supposed to come back 12-16 months. What’s it been, like six months? So maybe by the end we’ll have a little bit.”