White Sox righty Jake Petricka underwent a nerve transposition and flexor tendon debridement in his right elbow, Chris Kuc of the Chicago Tribune writes. He’ll require about three to four months of rest and rehab before he’ll be able to resume throwing.
Petricka, 29, compiled 26 strikeouts against just six walks in his 25 2/3 innings of action this year, though he also coughed up twenty earned runs on 39 hits while battling through elbow issues. That wasn’t quite the year he hoped for after missing much of 2016 following hip surgery.
The South Siders paid Petricka $900K in 2017 and project to owe him about $1.1MM for the season to come. That’s not a lot of scratch for a pitcher that turned in 144 1/3 frames of 3.24 ERA ball through his first three seasons in the majors, though it remains to be seen whether the Sox will want to promise a 40-man spot to Petricka — particularly if there’s any concern as to how he’ll bounce back from the surgery.
Whether or not Petricka is retained, the organization will be in need of quite a lot of bullpen depth after dealing away multiple veterans over the course of the 2017 campaign. Just how much payroll the organization intends to commit in what’s sure to be a losing season isn’t yet known, but it’s a good bet that the team will bring in a handful or two of experienced hurlers to battle for roster spots in camp — while also keeping an eye out for waiver claim and Rule 5 opportunities.
Who?
Jake Petricka.
I think it does not hurt the Sox to keep him around given the lack of payroll used so far. They also will need bullpen arms, if anything to just be entertaining in games.
Exactly. There is incredibly little risk involved.
I don’t think they’ll have any problem being entertaining next year. They were very fun to watch down the stretch this year.
But I agree, it doesn’t hurt them at all to keep him around.
This team will improve next season. Great potential in hitting with Abreu and young players. I would not be surprised if they get to .500 level or better. I like manager Renteria and his staff to help the youngsters [too numerous to name] develop. Pitching is a huge question mark. Sox need to sign at least 2 veterans. Much depends on finding good pitching.