The White Sox announced that catcher Max Stassi underwent a season-ending left hip surfacing procedure last week. He is already on the 60-day injured list and will stay there for the remainder of the year.
It’s always a tough blow when a player has to miss an entire season like this, but it’s especially unfortunate for Stassi as this will be the second straight lost campaign for him. With the Angels last year, he began the season on the injured list with a left hip strain. He was eventually able to heal up but remained away from the team due to an undisclosed personal matter. In October, his wife Gabrielle revealed in an Instagram post that their son had been born three months premature and was in NICU due to various medical complications.
While Stassi was not with the Halos, they proceeded with Logan O’Hoppe and Matt Thaiss as their catching duo. Stassi was planning to play in 2024 but was traded to Atlanta alongside David Fletcher in December in a move mostly about moving contracts around. Atlanta ate all of Stassi’s salary in flipping him to the White Sox a few days later.
It seemed the Sox planned to have Stassi and Martín Maldonado behind the plate this year, as they optioned Korey Lee during the spring. But Stassi then needed to start the season on the IL, which brought Lee back up to make the Opening Day squad. Stassi was transferred to the 60-day IL in mid-April and will now be stuck there for the rest of the campaign.
For the Sox, Lee has performed well enough this year, hitting .245/.280/.378 with some decent defensive work as well. Maldonado is hitting a dismal .071/.124/.111 but is mostly on the club for his veteran presence and work with the pitching staff. If the club decides to move on from him at some point, they have Carlos Pérez as a non-roster depth option while prospect Edgar Quero is demolishing Double-A pitching.
Stassi has long been a solid defensive catcher but seemed to take a step forward at the plate a few years ago. He had a batting line of .204/.285/.326 through the end of the 2019 season but then slashed .250/.333/.452 over 2020 and 2021. Going into 2022, the Angels signed him to a three-year, $17.5MM extension, though the deal hasn’t worked out. His bat collapsed in the first year, as he hit .180/.267/.303 in 102 games in 2022. Since he missed all of last year and is now set to miss 2024 as well, that rough season will go down as the totality of his work on the contract. There is a $7.5MM club option for the 2025 campaign that comes with a $500K buyout but the Sox will certainly turn that down based on how the past three years have gone.
Did not realize he was still around…
I think the White Sox need an ownership resurfacing procedure. It’s such typical Jerry to ask the city to pay for a new stadium the spring before putting this historically pathetic product on the field in front of MLB fans.
Now who is this guy? Talk about a revolving door with this organization. So word on the streets in Bridgeport Chicago is that this organization sucks ass. Yes you heard that right. Many fans have resorted to playing Ps5 than watching an actual game. Ok I’m back to watching the cicadas in my backyard and drinking a Zima
pharmor: I, too, found the Sox hard to watch when I came from the perspective of wins and losses. Now, they’re so bad I watch them for the laughs.
With Maldonado veteran presence maybe we should name him manage.r and go out and get a new catcher.
Atlanta: That’s almost exactly what they should have done, sign Maldonado as a catching coach. His catching is mediocre at best. Offensively, he has 99 PA and 7 hits. Even on a team like the Sox, that’s bad.
The fact they are letting Chuckie Robinson rot in AAA is a crime. They are clearly tanking
The Reds did the same thing with Chuckie last few years. It makes no sense. Maybe there is something about his game that warrants this? Does he not play good D? Is he pure offense? It is perplexing.
I am starting to also wonder if the teams just want him down there as a veteran behind the plate to help with the younger starters? I would assume he has more value on a mlb roster but maybe this is why?
He’s a great defender with a good bat. I don’t get it at all.
if I remember right, he was a rule V minor league phase claim a few years ago. That sort of suggests that no team sees him as anything more than minor league filler.
You just like his cool name.
Question: How come Chuckie Robinson has a cool name, but the late and occasionally great Chuckie Carr’s was meh?
if he’s a man of faith, maybe he is questioning where he needs to be. Two years of this and he’s made better money than the common working man, If he’s got another love in life, maybe it’s time to switch careers.
This might also be a blessing in disguise for him that he will be around family more…
Crikes: What does faith have to do with it?
Max, we hardly knew ya.
At this point Candy Maldonado would probably fair better at the plate than Martin…
“…though the deal hasn’t worked out.”
Love, the Angels
Oh man, that is not good. Get well Max. Wishing you a full recovery. A hip injury for a catcher is just about the worst injury that one can have.
Braves Legend.
So is Stassi a good stashee, in roto ball?
Yukon Yetis 4 life
So is this the same issue that kept him out all of last year?