The White Sox have signed right-hander Keynan Middleton to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He’ll presumably receive an invitation to major league Spring Training.
Middleton, 29, was drafted by the Angels and spent the first few seasons of his career there. He seemed to be establishing himself as a quality relief option in 2017 and 2018, making 80 appearances over those two seasons with a 3.43 ERA. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery midway through the latter campaign, putting him out of action for over a year.
The righty returned to the mound late in 2019 but has struggled over the past few years. He made 13 appearances in the shortened 2020 season but with a 5.25 ERA. The Angels non-tendered him after that but he secured a major league deal from the Mariners for 2021. The change of scenery didn’t help much, with the righty posting a 4.94 ERA over 32 appearances that season.
After a couple of rough seasons, Middleton had to settle for a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks for 2022. He pitched well enough in the minors to get back into the big leagues, but his 18 appearances for Arizona resulted in a 5.29 ERA. He did reduce his walk rate to 4.3% after being much higher in the preceding campaigns, but his strikeout and ground ball rates were both subpar. He also allowed five home runs in that brief time, matching his total from the four previous seasons combined. He was cut from the roster in November and became a free agent again.
Middleton will now look to get back on track after a rough few years. Despite some poor results, he does average over 95 mph on his fastball, placing him in the 74th percentile of qualified pitchers, according to Statcast. If he can claw his way back onto the club’s roster, he won’t be able to be optioned to the minors without his consent since he has over five years of MLB service time.
A worthwhile gamble on a guy with a lot of obvious talent. Just couldn’t catch a break with injuries early in.
I liked his talent, but he gained a ton of weight in his 2nd season and outside of his appearance, he was just off. Made me wonder about his dedication and discipline.
There is a lot of life in that arm and that’s why he keeps getting looks. A NW guy. Hope he catches on, the arm talent is there stuff wise
Wish him good luck. My fuzzy memory remembers him doing well until they sent him down, several of us were surprised by that. He did poorly after coming back up. Hope he performs well
Similar deal with us in ‘21. Looked great in spring training, we all thought we found a gem. Got nicked up, missed a little time and just never got it back. I think the minor injury bug has messed him up and it’s been difficult for him to maintain consistency post injury. Which, is a challenge for any ball player.
Great rookie year and lots of injuries since. Decent depth guy if he can stay healthy
Could be a sneaky good pick up for the Pale Hose.
unpopular take amongst angel fans, but I always loved his fire. He was a little sensitive and dont get it twisted, Angel fans are as viscous as any base on the internet, but the dude loved to entertain. I hope he catches.
Katz, let’s fix him up.
Middleton should have been signed by the Phillies!
Good signing, was solid pre TJ with electric stuff
I wonder the comments if this is a cubs signing. Those era + numbers are electric
Classic dumpster diving Hahn
Except for the part where he paid market rates for top of the market closer, 2 set up relivers, and just agreed on a healthy arb figures for two other key relievers in Reyno and Ruiz you are correct
Just because a player has a position doesn’t mean he’s any good at it. Two setup relievers, but they’re not exactly top of the line, are they. Lopez and Ruiz are not reliable. Too inconsistent. And just who is this mystery top of the market closer?
I always thought of Middleton as potential closer material.
or an opener. or set up guy. with a name like that
awesome. white sox needed more broken relievers.
This is getting ridiculous. The Sox waited until all the high and mid tier FA were signed, now they’re picking up every minor leaguer left. Obviously they’re. ot serious about winning let alone contending for anything except the first pick in the draft. The only major leaguer with any ability Hahn has signed is Benitendi. If Grifol wasn’t the manager, they wouldn’t even have signed him. I’m sure Hahn will be able to explain his strategy at the Sox convention. Oh, wait. The Sox cancelled their convention this year. I wonder why.
what?
What what?
Has everyone had their meds?