The White Sox have outrighted first baseman Casey Gillaspie, per a club announcement. That opens a spot on the 40-man roster that has yet to be filled.
Gillaspie, a former first-round pick of the Rays back in 2014, was acquired last summer in the deal that sent Dan Jennings to Tampa Bay. The South Siders placed Gillaspie on the 40-man roster over the offseason to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
Since the start of 2017, however, the switch-hitting Gillaspie has mostly struggled. He is off to a miserable .214/.263/.229 start at the plate this year at Triple-A Charlotte, with 29 strikeouts and no home runs through 76 trips to the dish.
Kopech
And by that I mean he’s coming
Hope so.
That leaves only 1 other infielder on the 40 man, but 11 outfielders on the 40 in total.
Yes, but Leury Garcia and Matt Davidson originally were infielders.
What, Why? The White Sox still have 5 infielders on their 40-man roster in addition to Leury Garcia and Daniel Palka who are listed as outfielders, along with DH Matt Davidson. Perhaps you meant 1 other first baseman in Jose Abreu although both Palka and Davidson also play the position.
It won’t be filled by Michael Kopech any time soon, starting tonight when the White Sox begin a 5-game weekend series with the Royals in Kansas City that also includes a makeup doubleheader on Saturday when the team can add a 26th player to its active roster. Kopech just tossed 98 pitches in his last start on Wednesday in AAA and won’t be available to throw again until Monday, April 30th which is an off-day for the White Sox.
Interestingly enough, the White Sox AAA affiliate in Charlotte has all their weekend games listed as TBD in regards to starting pitching. Both Don Roach and Dylan Covey have pitched pretty well as starters thus far and could be available to pitch as the 26th man for one of those Saturday games.
Nobody at AA Birmingham is worthy of a promotion this weekend but top starting prospect Dane Dunning’s next scheduled start for A+ Winston-Salem would be Saturday and as fate would have it that date is also listed as TBD on their schedule. Dunning has been outstanding this season, even more so than Michael Kopech who has been overpowering at AAA Charlotte.
Dunning is an advanced college pitcher who also has exhibited great command in his young pro career which includes a SO/BB ratio of 31/3 in 24.1 IP’s this season. He would probably be the White Sox most unflappable option for a one-game promotion with Kopech unavailable to pitch this weekend. Speaking as a White Sox fan, Dunning would also be the most intriguing pitcher available for a Saturday start with his rotation mate Dylan Cease also unavailable to pitch this weekend.
Dunning just got called up to AA
That certainly explains the TBD for his next scheduled start at A+ Winston-Salem. lol
It was somewhat surprising that Dunning didn’t begin the 2018 season at AA with the great success he had already exhibited at both levels of A ball last season. The Nationals former #1 2016 June Draft pick was a key component in the winter meeting trade later that December that sent Adam Eaton to Washington.
This would leave Don Roach or Dylan Covey as the most likely pitcher to be utilized as the starting pitcher and 26th man for one of the doubleheader games on Saturday. Carson Fulmer is scheduled to pitch one of those games with veteran southpaw Hector Santiago on tap for the Sunday finale in KC.
Dane Dunning actually made his AA debut in Birmingham tonight and picked up his first win with a 6-inning quality start versus Biloxi. He allowed all 3 runs in the third inning by yielding 3 of the 5 hits against him along with his only two walks. He was excellent in the other 5 innings allowing only two hits while fanning 4.
The starting rotations for all the minor league teams in the Sox system have said TBD a ton so far this year. I wouldn’t read too much into it, especially at the lower levels. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see someone like Covey get the call for the double header.
As of Friday the Charlotte Knights have listed Dylan Covey as their Saturday starter while also tabbing Don Roach to go on Sunday. All this would now lead me to believe that the White Sox may instead choose to add a relief pitcher from Charlotte as their 26th man.
Carson Fulmer has been designated as the game #1 starter for Saturday’s doubleheader in Kansas City. He last started on Monday and will be pitching on normal rest. It now looks likely that Chris Beck may be given the start in the nightcap since he last pitched 3 innings in relief of Fulmer on Monday. Beck is sufficiently stretched out to at least go 4 or 5 innings and then it would become a bullpen game. Hopefully Fulmer can duplicate his last start and give the White Sox at least another 6 innings pitched tomorrow to help save the pen for the later contest.
Is he related to the Giants player?
They’re brothers.
They’re Eskimo brothers.
How about Patrick Leonard’s debut? Let’s see what he’s got in the tank!
Patrick Leonard’s hitting OK in AAA, slightly better than his underwhelming minor league career numbers that include plenty of SO’s. The White Sox already have a similarly built 3B in Matt Davidson on their active roster who can at least mash HR’s although they are reluctant to play him at the hot corner, preferring Yolmer Sanchez’ glove there instead.
In any event, the White Sox aren’t looking to add another position player this weekend unless Jose Abreu’s flu persists. Even so, they have Davidson and Daniel Palka on the roster to fill in at 1B. It’s a starting pitcher that will be needed as the 26th player for one of the Saturday doubleheader games. Their choices look to be Don Roach or Dylan Covey from AAA or possibly highly regarded prospect Dane Dunning from A+ ball.
That stinks for Casey. I saw him play for the Hot Rods. Good player then. Hope he can recover his form.