White Sox To Sign Ryan Webb

The White Sox have inked a minor league deal with reliever Ryan Webb, per Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago (Twitter link). The veteran righty will report to Triple-A.

Webb, 30, had pitched to a 5.19 ERA over 17 1/3 innings with the Rays before being cut loose. Beneath the surface, though, he has been much the same pitcher as always — a sturdy but hardly dominant middle reliever.

Webb is still generating grounders on about half of the balls put in play against him and is near his career marks with 5.7 K/9 against 1.6 BB/9. The biggest problem thus far, it seems, has been a .417 batting average on balls put in play against him — though Webb’s career-worst hard contact rate (32.3%) suggests that may not just be a result of poor fortune.

For Chicago, the move adds depth in an area where the team has taken some hits of late. The South Siders are still running out a fairly talented overall relief unit, but have lost several useful arms already in 2016.