White Sox outfielder Austin Slater was scratched from yesterday’s game with a left oblique strain, with Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times among those to relay the information. The club hasn’t provided any details about how long they expect Slater to be out but oblique strains are notoriously pesky.
The Sox have taken a few hits to their outfield mix recently. Andrew Benintendi suffered a fracture in his hand after being hit by a pitch and is slated to be out of action for four to six weeks. Michael A. Taylor has been undergoing scans due to some elbow inflammation.
The club isn’t planning on being competitive this year but has made an effort to bolster the roster. They signed Slater, Taylor and Mike Tauchman to join an outfield/designated hitter mix alongside Benintendi and Luis Robert Jr. The idea was seemingly to add some veteran presence to a young roster while also giving the club some potential midseason trade candidates. With some more playing time opening up, perhaps young guys like Dominic Fletcher or Oscar Colás could seize roles. The club also has Joey Gallo, Brandon Drury and Corey Julks among their non-roster invitees.
Some more notes from around the Junior Circuit…
- Rangers left-hander Robert Garcia hopes to be a closer someday, telling Shawn McFarland of The Dallas Morning News as much. He also believes now is a good time to take a shot at it with Texas not having a set closer yet. Garcia had a 4.22 earned run average last year but his 29.9% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate were quite strong. A .329 batting average on balls in play and 57.2% strand rate pushed that ERA up, which is why he had a 2.38 FIP and 2.71 SIERA. He doesn’t yet have a save in his career but has 17 holds. His main competition could come from veteran Chris Martin, who has plenty of good numbers on his track record but more as a setup guy than a closer. Martin has 14 career saves in the majors and 106 holds, though he did have a 21-save season in Japan in 2016.
- Twins right-hander Matt Canterino has been shut down due to a right shoulder strain, reports Bobby Nightengale of the Minnesota Star Tribune. He’s awaiting a second opinion with no current timetable for his return. It’s another unfortunate setback for a righty who has had many. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2023 season and then a rotator cuff strain prevented him from getting back on the mound last year, meaning he hasn’t pitched in official game action since 2022. Thanks to the pandemic and some other injuries, he only tossed 85 innings from 2019 to 2022. He had an excellent 1.85 ERA and 39.2% strikeout rate in that time, prompting the Twins to protect him from the Rule 5 draft by giving him a roster spot in November of 2022. But since then, he has burned through two of his option years without throwing an official pitch and is now hurt again.
Think it’s time to move Canterino to the bullpen.
He should be called Cant-throw-ino when he’s hurt
Poor guy. He can’t really quit, because he’s getting paid to rehab. Also, he can’t move on with his life either. Professional purgatory.
I don’t even think he can withstand even that workload unfortunately
time to DFA Canterino. I guess they can get another 60 day IL out of him – but how many other players have been DFAd, released, ignored to keep this wet paper prospect. cut bait on him, Falvey
It seems the oblique is this springs injury bug…
How do you burn through 2 option years, when he has never been promoted to mlb to be optioned out.
He was selected to the 40 man roster to protect him from Rule 5 draft. He didn’t make the Twins out of spring training and was optioned to the minors from there the last two years.
I like these moves. The White Sox’s signings aren’t just about flipping players for mid-tier prospects at the deadline. They’re positioning themselves ahead of potential MLB rule shifts—either by creating scarcity in the rental market or by future-proofing against changes that make certain trades harder to execute.
This isn’t just a tanking team filling a roster—it’s a calculated market inefficiency play.