White Sox outfielder Jon Jay is finally showing some signs of progress in his effort to return from a groin strain. As Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets, GM Rick Hahn says that Jay may not be far from a rehab stint. He’s expanding his workload at extended spring training at the moment. When Jay inked a one-year, $4MM deal the idea was that he’d help solidify the overall outfield unit, and perhaps also help woo Manny Machado to the South Side. Neither concept has paid off to this point, though there’s still time for Jay to be a 2019 contributor and perhaps even turn into a trade chip.
- Welington Castillo, meanwhile, is headed to the injured list, per Van Schouwen (Twitter link). It’s been a rough start to the season for Castillo, whose -0.2 fWAR can largely be attributed to his .176/.286/.318 slash line. Defensively, Castillo’s strength is in deterring the run game. Framing metrics have looked less kindly upon Castillo’s work behind the dish. The 32-year-old veteran returned to Chicago last season after spending the early portion of his career with the Cubs. In his first season on the South Side, Castillo hit .259/.304/.406 across 49 games in 2018, though the bulk of playing time went to the since-traded Omar Narvaez. This season it’s been the James McCann show with starts split almost down the middle, despite McCann’s blistering start to the season. Officially, Castillo was placed on the 7-day concussion list, per The Athletic’s James Fegan (via Twitter).
- Taking over Castillo’s spot on the roster – and making his major league debut – will be Texas native Seby Zavala. Over parts of this season and last, the 25-year-old Zavala slashed .234/.261/.405 for Triple-A Charlotte. He posted much better offensive numbers in lower levels, particularly in regards to his approach and contact skills. Despite his current 36.3% strikeout rate and 4.4% walk rate, Zavala prepares to make his debut at the game’s highest level as soon as this afternoon.
- Lefty Manny Banuelos is also being reinstated from the injured list, tweets Fegan. Banuelos has been out of action with a shoulder strain since May 15. Banuelos, 28, has appeared in 9 games this season, starting 5, going 2-3 with a 7.26 ERA. Ten home runs in 31 innings played no small part in the high ERA, but Banuelos struggled with his command as well with 5.5 BB/9.
With Manny B returning, the outfielders will get to refine their fence climbing skills.
Ouch! The truth hurts!
In that case LF Eloy Jimenez should be restricted to DH duties. lol
The Sox should send him to AAA for exactly 15 days to refine his defense….
@petrie000
He will need more than 15 days to refine his defense. Ideally, he will make a great DH. Obviously you’re looking for more than that from a 22-year-old, but it’s a safe bet Jimenez and Gold Glove award will never be put in the same sentence without sarcasm being involved. I think at his best, it’s possible he could turn into an average OF defensively, and there’s nothing wrong with that if he does put up some serious power numbers offensively. Even if he’s nothing more than a liability defensively in the OF, the Sox could try him at 1B, or just make him a very young full-time DH a few years from now.
It should be pointed out that Wellington Castillo was the White Sox starting catcher in 2018 until May 24th when he received an 80-game suspension for testing positive with Erythropoietin. It was at that point when Omar Narvaez became the White Sox starting catcher and was backed up by former backstop Kevan Smith. Castillo was reinstated in early September when rosters expanded, starting 12 more games as catcher through the end of the season.
Although McCann has been a revelation, interesting to note that Narvaez is doing very well with Mariners. He’s at +1.5 WAR and has .848 OPS. Maybe we should have kept him.
The White Sox also optioned reliever Thyago Vieira to AAA Charlotte in order to free up a spot on the active roster for re-instated SP Manny Banuelos.
I’m curious to see how much Zavala gets used in his stay in Chicago. Zavala isn’t exactly lighting it up in AAA, though he is showing some power, and McCann for the most part is still doing pretty well. Castillo is just a waste of a roster space. Safely assuming no one will trade for him, they would be best to just cut Castillo once Collins is deemed ready by Hahn & Co.
Another great stat line for Banuelos (sarcasm). Good thing Giolito was there to give the pen a day of rest, because the pen isn’t getting any rest this series. I was going to say Banuelos didn’t look too bad his first couple of starts since being put into the rotation, until I noticed both of his first 2 starts were against the mighty Orioles. Explains why his numbers nosedived since. By some miracle he didn’t give up a HR.
Though I could care less if Jay ever gets in the lineup, it would be nice to have something resembling a trade chip in July. Yes they have Abreu and Colome, but it looks like they’re leaning toward keeping both (though I wouldn’t be surprised to see Colome get moved).
It’s going to be weird not having any trades after July, though It should make for a crazy last few days in July.
Seby Zavala is slated to start on Sunday in the finale versus the Twins. He will primarily back up James McCann until Wellington Castillo returns from his concussion.
I suspect that this will be Castillo’s final season on the South Side provided he can’t be moved by the July 31st trade deadline. The White Sox do hold an $8M team option on him for 2020 but will likely chose the $500k buyout.
McCann has another year of arbitration eligibility in 2020. It’s a good bet that he will be tendered by the White Sox and remain the primary starting catcher with either Zavala or Zack Collins providing backup.
There is also a chance that the White Sox might pursue FA Yasmani Grandal next offseason. They reportedly had interest and made a multi-year offer to him before he accepted a one year deal with the Brewers last winter. I’m not sold on either Savala or Collins as the White Sox long term catcher, especially from a defensive standpoint. I’d welcome Grandal and his veteran leadership behind the plate along with McCann in 2020 and beyond unless the team lucks out on June 3rd and has a chance to select #1 prospect Adley Rutschman in the Rule 4 Draft. In that case, I’d settle on McCann being the bridge to Rutschmann with Zavala or Collins backing him up until the Oregon State University catcher is ready for prime time by 2022 or so.
While I do have reservations concerning Collins defense I do believe his high OBP/SLG left-handed bat will play in the big leagues despite his high SO numbers. Collins could be a valuable platoon bat at 1B/DH for the White Sox while also filling in as a third string catcher on their active roster.
Odds are better that the Orioles will select Rutschman with the overall #1 pick a week from Monday. That would likely leave the White Sox with a choice between college 1B Andrew Vaughn or high school SS C.J. Abrams with their #3 pick. Most pundits have the Royals opting for another prep SS in Bobby Witt Jr. at #2 giving the White Sox a shot at the draft’s premier bat in Vaughn or a potential leadoff man in Abrams who has 80-grade speed.
I definitely agree, I don’t think Collins or Zavala will be the long-term answer at C either. I’m hoping it doesn’t take too long for the Sox brass to figure it out. They will put them both in at C for probably a couple years, unless either are that bad behind the plate.
It wasn’t exactly a great start for Zavala, whiffing all 4 times along with a throwing error, but not every player is going to have a great MLB debut. Personally I’d still rather see him on the team than Castillo.
If Milwaukee doesn’t extend him, yes, Grandal would be a nice addition next year (no idea how likely he is to sign with the Sox if he does become a F/A).
Definitely keep McCann. He would have to nosedive hard the rest of the season not to keep him.
I’d lean more toward Vaughn in the draft if it were me, but I’m not going to rip Hahn if he goes for Abrams. Speed is good, but I’d rather have the best bat, especially with there not being a SP worthy of the #3 pick. I’m also assuming Rutschman will be gone by the 3rd pick, otherwise that’s a slam dunk pick for the Sox (at least for me it is). We will find out a week from tomorrow.
Jon Jay sucks. When will teams figure this out?