TODAY: Vaughn was officially sent to the 10-day IL today, with a retroactive May 2 placement. The White Sox called up Danny Mendick to take Vaughn’s spot on the active roster.
MAY 4: The White Sox have been arguably the team most affected by injuries in the first month of the 2022 season, with many of their position players and starting pitchers having missed some time, whether they’ve gone on the injured list or not. These various maladies have dragged them down to an 11-13 start to the season. It appears they’ve taken yet another blow, according to Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times, with Andrew Vaughn likely headed to the injured list before the team opens a series against Boston on Friday.
Vaughn was hit by a pitch on his hand in a game last week and, despite negative X-rays, hasn’t played since. “It’s kind of progressed, but it’s still aching when I swing, real bad,” Vaughn said. “Like it’s kind of blocking me from swinging because of the pain. I feel it all the time.” Injuries to outfielders Eloy Jimenez, AJ Pollock and Luis Robert had opened up some regular playing time for Vaughn and he answered the call by hitting .283/.367/.566 this year, good enough for a 177 wRC+. Unfortunately, that will all have to be put on hold until he can recuperate.
There is at least some good news for the Pale Hose, however, as Van Schouwen also reports that Yoan Moncada is likely joining the team next week. The third baseman has yet to make his season debut due to an oblique strain. With Moncada out, most of the playing time at the hot corner has been going to Jake Burger, who’s hitting .250/.270/.383. That line amounts to a wRC+ of 91, or 9% below league average. Moncada’s wRC+ for his career is 114 and it was 122 last year, meaning he should provide the lineup a boost as long as he can return and produce at his usual level.
The bullpen also should get a reinforcement soon, with Joe Kelly likely making his debut with the White Sox next week. While with the Dodgers last year, the righty was sidelined with a bicep injury. The Sox signed him in the offseason knowing that he was still working his way back from that issue and likely wouldn’t be ready for the start of the season. Since switching from the rotation to the bullpen, Kelly has emerged as a useful fireballer. From 2017 to 2021, he threw 229 innings with a 3.62 ERA, 24.8% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate.
As for the rotation, Johnny Cueto seems ready suit up for the White Sox as well. Signed to a minor league deal in early April, he’s been gradually building up his arm strength with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. After a nice bounceback season with the Giants last year where he threw 114 2/3 innings of 4.08 ERA ball, he signed with the White Sox on a deal that will pay him $4.2MM once he’s selected to the big league club. With Lance Lynn on the shelf for a while, a spot in the rotation opened up for Vince Velasquez, who has a 4.58 ERA through four starts, with strikeout and walk rates roughly in line with his career numbers. The weakest link in the rotation so far, however, has been Dallas Keuchel, who has an 8.40 ERA at the moment, along with a measly 9.8% strikeout rate and 13.4% walk rate. That’s a small sample of just four starts, but it continues a trend that began last year, when the lefty put up a 5.28 ERA and 13.2% strikeout rate. He’s in the last guaranteed year of his three-year, though there is a $20MM club/vesting option for 2023. If Keuchel were to reach 160 innings pitched this year, that would become guaranteed.
The white sox should send a bucket of balls to the dodgers for kevin pillar. His ops was over 1.000 in AAA, last time I checked. LA coaches are some of the best and players all over the league credit them with helping them improve, see D’arnaud. Teams should be looking to poach their AAAA depth. Especially the reds.
Yea pillar would fit great here. But as a Jays fan hes hit 300 with good OBP number 4 or 5 years and then he falls off in late May early June every time. He will hit 260ish 20HR and play good d tho
Not sure what power Pillar has shown previously will translate to the current baseball. He strikes me as the type who might struggle to reach double digit HRs now. Regardless, he’s a useful 4th OFer type. Surprised he had to take a minors deal. The lockout probably impacted his opportunities. Maybe he has an opt out he can trigger so a trade isn’t necessary.
As far as the Dodgers, teams should be looking to poach their scouting, minor league coaching and player development people. Seriously. They have won 90 games the past 9 years (I am including 2020 since their winning percentage was plenty high in the shortened season), so they have not had a top 20 draft pick in a decade, and still have a farm system ranked 5th. They have FIVE minor league players in the top 100. How is that possible? They must have amazing scouting and development people. Sox sure could use anybody from their organization to show them how to do it right. Sox are dead last in farm system rankings and have zero prospects in top 100.
I think Burger would eventually figure it out. Definitely a guy negatively impacted by the lost 2020 season.
What in the world would make you think Burger is, or will ever ‘figure it out’. Lol. Figure WHAT out?
He’s far more likely to get sent down to triple A, and fade into free fall. The guys OPS is horrible.
Burger has a better OPS than Madrigal, who is striking out at more than twice the rate he did before the Cubs got him.
How does Madrigal being awful have anything to do with whether or not Burger figures it out?
It doesn’t, aside from the fact that the other poster is a cub fan/Sox hater.
He lost 2 straight seasons due to injury. I think that was more impactful
Agreed.
Hopefully Cueto can provide more than Keuchel. It’s a shame too cuz he was really solid in 2020 but I think it’s just time to make a decision. Curious to see how Kelly performs as well.
Ironhead, can you imagine the ‘deep conversations’ that Keuchel and Kelly Nash must have together? LOL. That is a pair made for each other. Only thing better, would be to have your man, young boy wonder, Jason Benetti on their couch asking them dumb questions.
Ironhead had some polite & hopeful insights. Yet Dogbone is obviously sad and venting about the IL White Sox sweeping the 2 game series at WRIGLEY against his beloved little Chubbies so go cry somewhere else.
Sox won last 9 of 11 vs Cubs including 5 in a row at Wrigley!
Send Suzuki back to Japan. He is awful!
But Crybaby Contreras said Suzuki is “the greatest player I have ever played with” LMFAO. The Cubs are the joke of the city
Is there any reason you don’t just mute Dogbone? That button makes life much more tolerable and the threads pretty easy to read.
That’s awesome—9 of 11 from the Cubs—-and two playoff wins since 2008. I’m sure about 98% of the Sox fans agree with you that winning “your”: World Series the first week of May makes everything rosy.
About four years from now when they realign and the Cubs and Sox are in the same division I’ll bet you will be first in line ringing the bell when beating the Cubs really means the same as playing the Tigers, Twins, etc……..
You can hate them all you want, but they had higher attendance than the white sox did last year, so it’s hard to say they’re the joke of the city.
Listen, I think Bears have already established that you don’t need to be even remotely decent for meathead Chicago fans to pay to watch your team get their brains beaten in. I’ve come to realize what I thought was fan loyalty is really just sheer stubborness.
Dude, I understand that you don’t like the Sox but I have no idea why you always dump on Benetti and Stone. Perhaps you prefer a more dry and dull pair of announcers. Those two are sharp, insightful, witty and enthusiastic which is exactly what they should be. Myself and many others find them to be delightful and fun. Even through bad games they manage to remain interesting.
Dogtroll is probably sore that someone who has gracefully and unceremoniously overcome a physical disability has risen to the top of his craft to be the #1 analyst on MLB’s broadcasts on NBC, while the backup on ESPN. Meantime Dogbones remains constrained to begging for reaction to the missives fired off from his grandmas basement
Yeah, that really doesn’t make sense. I’m a cubs fan, but I have absolutely no problem admitting that those two are good; I enjoy listening to games they broadcast. I always thought Stoney was pretty good, but he’s become much better since he doesn’t sound like he’d like to commit suicide and/or murder every game, unless Hawk had the day off.
Chicago is fortunate to have stellar crews on both sides of town, as indicated by the national work that Boog Schaimbi, Jason Benetti, Len Kasper, and Steve Stone routinely get.
Kelly should be rock solid. The recent resurgence of Matt Foster only strengthens the pen even more. Also, is there anyone with worse takes on the White Sox than Dogbone on this site? Literally every post is pure cringe, bitter and honestly bad attempts at trolling to the point of point and laugh.
For someone who curiously doesn’t post anywhere else or on any other topic, Dogtroll’s a bit of an enigma wrapped in a riddle or some such. Doesn’t even root for any other team. Just the same perceived slight over Reinsdorf, Benetti, Stone ad infinitum.
I imagine his hatred started when he was a little boy and attended a sox game. He saw Hawk and ran up to him and asked for an autograph. Then Hawk looked straight into his eyes and said “No! f@#& you, kid!” And it broke his little heart. From that day he’d vow to troll the sox with all his might.
Good they are putting Vaughn on the DL I was starting to wonder if it was just a TLR excuse to bench him in favor of some scrub
Who gets sent down when Kelly & Cueto get called up?
Vaughn going on DL opens up spot for Moncada short term. More likely Burger will be sent down when Vaughn is ready to play. As for Cueto, it almost has to be Velasquez unless (and this will never happen) they bite the bullet like Mets did with Cano and just dump Keuchel. As far as Kelly goes, I guess it’s either Burr or Sousa.
If Keuchel pitches in Fenway this weekend similar to his outing at Cleveland, that will likely spell DFA time. There comes a point where you just roll with Tanner Banks/Cueto or whoever instead of throwing away games.
Keuchel going on IL.
What’s a DL? No such thing.
Is it my imagination that it was called the DL (disabled list) for a million years and only in recent years started getting called the IL (injured list)? Sounds like MLB wokeism if you ask me.
I knew about Vaughn & the IL & I completely forgot about Burr. I wonder if Keuchel still holds any value as a LHP even as a long reliever out of the bullpen. I gotta go Burr bc Sousa holds value as a left handed reliever just like Banks.
Vaughn going to IL opens spot for say Moncada to come up. Burger & Sousa eventually go down when Cueto & Kelly come up. Keuchel moves to pen.
Why Sousa over Burr?
I just figured they’d send down a lefty if Keuchel moves to pen since they’d have Sousa, Banks & Bummer already there. But yeah prolly Burr, Sousa or Banks goes down. Maybe they can trade Keuchel if a contender loses a couple starters.
One thing is for sure, there’s no way Keuchel will reach 160 innings this season; the White Sox will make sure of that. Even if he turns his season around and pitches well, they won’t let him get close to that number because he’s nowhere near worth $20M for an additional season at this stage of his career.
Right! He’s not worth 2M let alone 20M!
If he made every start he couldn’t last long enough to hit 160 innings, anyway.
I would like the Sox to dump him right now but Cueto might not be any better. He’s struggling at AAA.
Keuchel has been sucky and the defense behind him has not been of help. Hopefully Moncada provides a boost in that regard.
Also, I think Kelly Nash might be “physically” wearing Dallas out.
Sox fans, I haven’t watched Keuchel pitch this season so I’m asking for your input. The numbers show that his walk totals are way up. Would you say he is struggling with his control, or just afraid to throw the ball over the plate? He’s inducing ground balls 60% of the time so poor defense might explain some of his struggles. His home run rate is concerning but I assume he’s constantly pitching from behind in the count. Any thoughts?
Poor fielding is part of as this is the worst defensive club they’ve had in decades. But that’s more of a footnote. Keuchel just can’t get guys out. His pitches that do find the zone are getting hammered. His cutters aren’t grabbing the edges of the zone. The signs were all there last year and it was very telling when they left him off the playoff roster. Unless he finds a way to pitch with less command and severely diminished stuff, his days in mlb are numbered
True, Keuchel would have better results with a better defensive team. Since the Sox are not that they really need to get rid of him soon because it doesn’t look like his gonna turn anything around.
I’d be more comfortable if they had Lynn back now but Velasquez and Cueto might be the better way to go.
Kuechel has pretty much become borderline useless. No command over his pitches. Constantly pitching from behind. Doesn’t have the stuff to overcome his shortcomings. The defense certainly hasn’t helped him out. But in all honesty even if he had the greatest defense of all time he still would be hard pressed to be anything close to effective. He’s never been an overpowering pitcher. But he’s looked like a shell of himself. Not that my opinion really matters, but I’m not even a person that puts such a premium on velocity. But when you can’t hit the mitt somewhat consistently, and you’re constantly pitching yourself into hitters counts, good things aren’t going to be forthcoming.
MiLB standouts C Carlos Perez and 2B Yolbert Sanchez could be perfect fits on this years ChiSox. However, even with all the injuries and the Cs and 2Bs struggling, we may not see them this year.
Wes Benjamin too
Wah, wah, wah. White Sox have 7 players on the IL. Detroit has nine. Detroit has 4 members of their rotation, their starting C, and their starting CF out. I’m sure this is just one example of another team dealing with injuries. Make the Narrative that only the WS are having this problem though, if this makes you feel better.
I don’t know what your point is. I’m a Tiger fan but the team is over-hyped and not contenders. The ChiSox aren’t ahead of the Tigers because the Tigers have more players on the IL.
Both teams are losing to the degree that they are because of lack of pitching. Last season, the ChiSox were without any of their top 4 OFs most of the season. They still won because their pitchers stayed strong until the post season..
My point is I don’t agree with ” the white Sox have arguably been the team most effect by injury in the first month…” Every team is being effected by injuries. The team I follow most closely is just a single example w/o me looking deeply, of a team being hurt just as much or more.
Where is metsfan22 with our missed WAR leaderboard?
Way Wah Wah. The problem is that you sign a guy like Javy Baez for $140mm and expect an MVP, then realize that he’s a .300 OBP and has the worst plate discipline in the league. Great, he made a between the legs scoop yesterday!!! Does anyone know that he went 0-8 in the doubleheader? THAT is your MVP
He owns the Sox keep crying
Lol! You’re kidding right?
He’s already had 3 Game winning hits. Every player has bad days. Even Ted Williams put up the occasional 0 for.
Come out of hiding have you? If the Tigers couldn’t win it all during 2011-2015 then they won’t do it anytime soon.
You must be a newbie as I am on here daily.
They also have Jake Rogers and Casey Mize on IL. Or wait are those the “superstar” Tigers on IL he was referring too?!?! Just like the .174 hitting superstar Torkelson! I think Giolito, Lynn, Jimenez, Crochet, Robert, Vaughn, Moncada, Kelly, Pollock, Hendriks a few games and probably couple others I can’t think of was more “hurtful” than the Tigers injuries so far.
Never said superstar. Nor would I classify most of those names you provide as super stars. Turnbull, Mize, Manning and Alexander were all members of the starting rotation. Rogers was the starting C and is much better defensively than any Chicago C. Greene was the projected starting CF. Skubal is the only starter not on the IL. Losing 4/5 of a rotation is much more damaging than having the injuries spread thru the roster. Is Giolito currently better than any Tiger starter? Of course. But even if Giolito was healthy, White Sox would be screwed if the other 4 starters went down. Tigers are expecting to play .500 this year and hopeful of contending for a wild card.
Can’t both teams be hurting? Start your own thread about the Tigers being distressed if it makes you a feel better. Oh wait, thats right, you’re not a writer here.
This bruise on my wittle hand hurts really really bad can I have three weeks off please?