The White Sox announced Monday that they’ve selected the contract of outfielder Charlie Tilson from Triple-A Charlotte and, in order to clear a spot on the 40-man roster, transferred righty Nate Jones from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day injured list. Jones, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets, has a flexor pronator strain in his right forearm. Chicago also reinstated right-hander Ryan Burr from the 10-day IL. Tilson and Burr will take over the active roster spots of center fielder Adam Engel and lefty Caleb Frare, who have each been optioned to Triple-A.
Tilson was once a rather promising outfield prospect for the South Siders (and the Cardinals before them), but he suffered a torn hamstring in his MLB debut in 2016 and missed the remainder of the season. A stress reaction in Tilson’s ankle in 2017 ultimately resulted in an ankle fracture in 2017, limiting Tilson to just seven games in the Arizona Fall League. His 2018 campaign was a disappointment both in Triple-A and in more limited MLB action, and Tilson was ultimately outrighted off the 40-man roster.
This season, however, the 26-year-old is off to a blistering start in Charlotte. Through 111 trips to the plate, Tilson has raked at a .333/.396/.475 pace with a homer, seven doubles, two triples and three steals. His .410 average on balls in play is a clear indicator of some impending regression, but Tilson is walking at a career-best 10 percent clip and collecting more extra-base hits at a career-high rate as well. Given that Engel has posted a dreadful .207/.262/.316 slash in 857 big league plate appearances dating back to 2017, there’s little harm in seeing if Tilson can provide a meaningful upgrade.
As for Jones, the injury is the latest in a long line of maladies for the talented 33-year-old. There’s little debating that a healthy version of Jones is a potential wipeout reliever; in his past 141 2/3 innings in the Majors, he’s pitched to a 2.67 ERA and averaged ten and a half strikeouts per nine innings pitched while averaging nearly 97 mph on his fastball. Unfortunately for both Jones and the White Sox, those 141 2/3 innings have been scattered across five seasons, 2019 included, because of arm troubles. Most notably, he missed the 2014 season due to Tommy John surgery and then underwent surgery to re-position the ulnar nerve in his right arm in 2017. There’s no clear timetable for his return right now, but he was placed on the 10-day IL on April 28, meaning he’ll be sidelined for at least 60 days from that point forth.
Who was the OF on the White Sox that got hurt in his first game with them after being traded from the Yankees a couple of years ago.??
I’m pretty sure that was Tilson, and he came from the Cardinals.
That’s correct.
Thanks I thought it was NY.
You might be thinking of Dustin Fowler…? It was his first game in the big leagues but he played for the Yankees and got hurt while playing the White Sox.
You’re right.
he was hurt in that game and then was traded to the Athletics.
The White Sox are said to have an abundance of outfield talent in the minor leagues. Yet everyone of them who arrives in Chicago seems unable to hit. Engel is a terrific center fielder, one of the best that I’ve ever seen in a long time, and I hope he figures out how to hit down on the farm. Hurry back, Adam.
That should change with Eloy Jimenez in LF and Luis Robert patrolling CF for the next 5-10 years. Most of their remaining top OF prospects have struggled with the bat to begin the 2019 season with the exception of Steele Walker (great name!) who was recently promoted from Class A Kannapolis to A+ Winston-Salem.
The Chisox don’t have an ‘abundance ‘ of talent at any position, in Chicago or in the minors.
The only thing the W Sox currently have, is an abundance of hype. I guess some people would have a different name for it – than hype.
Their rebuild isn’t going too well – as it begins the FIFTH year of failure.
I suspect you may be a Cubs fan with this vitriol. Any knowledgeable baseball fan, including those on the North Side of Chicago would realize that the 2019 season begins the third season of the White Sox rebuild which basically commenced with the 2016 Winter Meeting trades of Chris Sale and Adam Eaton.
Aaron, the argument could be made, this is the 7th year of the W Sox rebuild. They only won 63 games in 2013.
Just because they settled for mediocrity in 2014 and 15 (with 73 and 74 wins), is no excuse. Hahn himself said over the weekend, he saw this as the 4th year of rebuild.
you’re both wrong. 2011 saw trades of Rios and JP.
@dogbone
@cysoxsale
Do you guys understand the basic concept of a rebuild? Having a bad record doesn’t mean you’re in rebuild mode. Making trades in an attempt to better yourselves doesn’t mean you’re in rebuild mode. Rebuild means tearing down the existing blueprint and starting over from scratch. You might keep a couple guys before the rebuild started for the finished product, but that’s pretty much it.
63 wins in 2013 just means they sucked. What moves did they make to get you to think they were in rebuild mode that year? That’s like saying SF won it all in ’12, went 76-86 in ’13, won it all again in ’14, and calling 2013 a rebuild. See how silly that sounds? Just as silly as saying 63 wins unequivocally means you’re in rebuild mode.
The Rios and JP trades in 2011 constituted a rebuild? Really? Adding a few veterans to the mix isn’t even close to a rebuild. That’s silly even considering that a rebuild.
I’ve said this on other posts: if what the Sox were doing before the Sale trade was considered a rebuild, that’s the worst attempt at a rebuild in the history of sports.
Look at the word “rebuild”. Now use some common sense. Think of what word means, in a non-sports way. I’ll use this as an example: we have a run-down building, we talk about “rebuilding” it. What do you think that means? Slap another floor on it and call it good? No, you tear it down and build it over from scratch. It’s not illegal to use your brain.
I’d like to see that quote from Rick Hahn.
The White Sox rebuild became official with the 2016 Winter Meeting trades of Chris Sale and Adam Eaton. The decision to undertake the rebuild began during the previous summer when the White Sox began fielding offers for their most valuable veterans as the 2016 July 31st trade deadline approached.
The final straw for that decision occurred in the wake of the James Shields trade on June 4th, 2016 when he was dealt for prospects Fernando Tatis Jr. and Eric Johnson. The White Sox were slipping in the standings at that point after leading the AL Central through May 27th. The Shields trade was yet another attempt by the White Sox to patch a flawed roster. When the team continued to lose ground that summer Hahn decided that their constant attempts at retooling and reloading were going nowhere and that a full-fledged rebuild was in order. As GM he convinced owner Jerry Reinsdorf and VP Kenny Williams of his plan which they agreed to.
Any way you decipher this, the notion of rebuilding began in July of 2016 and became official later that December at the Winter Meetings. I’m no math expert but it is quite apparent that the 2019 season marks year #3 of the White Sox rebuild using either July or December of 2016 as the start point.
Well said and so accurate, Aaron Sapoznik.
Sad but it’s time to move on from Nate Jones. He’s a good pitcher but just can’t seem to stay healthy and at 33, slim chance he improves. I wouldn’t wait too long for Engel to figure things out as well.
Moving on from Nate Jones sounds fantastic. The guy has never had ANY idea where the ball was going when it left his hand. He has gotten results at times because his stuff is absolutely filthy, but he’s clueless on the mound.
Luis Basabe will make a difference for this team.
Luis Alexander Basabe has loads of talent (m.mlb.com/prospects/2019/?list=cws). He has the potential to be a 5-tool talent in MLB. Basabe’s ceiling is pretty high as a switch-hitting outfielder who can play excellent defense in CF to go with his other average to plus tools. If he checks off all the boxes he can become a solid MLB player. If he lacks in an area or two he still might develop into a nice 4th OF option with his plus defense and speed. At worst, he ought to be an upgrade over Adam Engel at some point, either with the White Sox or some other organization.