The White Sox already lost injured right-handers Ryan Burr, Jimmy Lambert and Zack Burdi for the season earlier Friday. Add fellow righty Ian Hamilton to the list, according to James Fegan of The Athletic. Hamilton will require multiple surgeries to repair multiple fractures he suffered to his jaw on a line drive earlier this season, Fegan reports.
Now 24, Hamilton joined the White Sox as an 11th-round pick in 2016. He reached the majors for the first time last season, throwing eight innings of four-earned run ball, but pitched solely at the minors’ highest level this year before suffering his injury. Hamilton made 16 appearances with Triple-A Charlotte and allowed more than an earned run per inning (18 in 16 1/3 frames), but he did register 11.02 K/9 against 1.65 BB/9 and post a 51.9 percent groundball rate.
Although Hamilton has struggled to prevent runs this year, he entered 2019 as a well-regarded prospect. MLB.com (No. 13) and FanGraphs (No. 30) currently place him among Chicago’s top 30 farmhands. Hamilton could eventually turn into a major league closer, per MLB.com, but that quest is now on hold. He followed Lambert and Burdi as the third top 30 White Sox prospect to be ruled out for the season Friday.
In better news for the White Sox, one of their premier righty prospects, Dylan Cease, is moving closer to his first big league promotion. The prized 23-year-old is “getting awful close” to joining the White Sox, general manager Rick Hahn said Friday (via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). Hahn noted two-plus weeks ago Cease was working toward a call-up, and it seems he has continued to build a case since then. Cease has put up a 4.62 ERA/3.79 FIP with 9.51 K/9, 4.06 BB/9 and a 54.9 percent grounder rate in 64 1/3 innings during his first Triple-A experience this year.
Damn you for putting Cease in with all these injured guys. It wouldn’t have surprised me, but you scared me for a moment there.
LOL
Just now getting surgery for injuries sustained after taking a line drive to the face…is they common?
it is plausible that they needed to wait for swelling to go or other procedures to be complete before they could fully operate.
It can be common in cases involving facial fractures and significant swelling. It can be very difficult to reset delicate bones into swollen tissue, so it non-emergencies it’s not uncommon to wait some time before surgery
anyone find it ironic that BURR & HAMILTON are on the IL?
(History related joke)
At least John Jay is up. No word on when James Madison will be activated
I hear the top draft pick for 2020,James Monroe, is a two way player & basically a 7 tool player….basically like shohei ohtani but even better,
Lol
That would be a coincidence.
A 4.62 ERA in AAA is building a case for a promotion?
Yes, a 3.79 FIP in that park with a juiced baseball is. He’s also 5-2 (assuming you want to use another stat on top of ERA; this one seems up your alley).
Not sure why you are giving him attitude when Cease has a 4.06 BB/9. Your claim that the park or the juiced ball is to blame can’t really be true when his HR rate is lower than last year in AA. Also MiLB balls are different than MLB balls and are notoriously not juiced.
Triple A ball is juiced this year
Ball is juiced in AAA this year homers are up 50%
If you take a second to read what I said, you’ll notice I didn’t blame anything on the juiced ball. I said that his FIP in that park with a juiced baseball is not bad at all, and that’s an accurate statement. Just because he’s not giving up a boatload of home runs doesn’t mean the balls and/or park are not affecting his bottom line.
And they’re using the “non-juiced” MLB balls in AAA this year, fyi.
“Awful close”. It’s like Hahn doesn’t want to bring him up.
I hope this is it for injuries this year for the Sox. I know injuries are part of the game, but this is crazy.
Hopefully the CWS have a catcher in their system named Desist.
By Jorge, we could then have a Cease and Desist Orta.