March 28: Hudson has reported to the team, and the White Sox optioned southpaw Tyler Gilbert to the minor leagues in a corresponding move.
March 27: The White Sox announced that they have claimed left-hander Bryan Hudson off waivers from the Mets. New York designated the lefty for assignment earlier this week. The Sox had a couple of open 40-man spots since they designated catcher Korey Lee and infielder Curtis Mead for assignment this week. Hudson is out of options and will need an active roster spot, so the Sox will have to bump someone off whenever he reports to the team.
The Sox claimed Hudson from the Brewers back in August. He was nudged off their roster in the winter when they signed outfielder Austin Hays. After being designated for assignment, he was flipped to the Mets for cash considerations. He didn’t have a good spring, allowing six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. He didn’t make the Mets’ roster and is out of options, so he had to be bumped into DFA limbo.
For the Sox, they are presumably overlooking Hudson’s rough spring and focusing more on the potential he has shown in the past. He posted a 1.73 earned run average in 62 1/3 innings for the Brewers in 2024. He got some help from a .148 batting average on balls in play and a 94.2% strand rate but he still deserves some credit. His 26.8% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate and 41.2% ground ball rate were all average or better marks. His 3.60 FIP and 3.22 SIERA that year suggested he would have been pretty good even with more neutral luck.
Last year, his results backed up and he got sent to the minors, which exhausted his final option year and also got him pushed to the waiver wire. He finished the year with a 4.80 ERA in 15 big league innings between the Brewers and White Sox, as well as a 5.97 ERA in Triple-A.
Though it’s been a tough year-plus for Hudson, the Sox clearly like him, as this is the second time they have claimed him in the past eight months. They currently have Sean Newcomb, Chris Murphy and Tyler Gilbert as their southpaw relief contingent, though Murphy and Gilbert both have options and could end up sent down to the minors when Hudson joins the team.
Photo courtesy of David Richard, Imagn Images
He’s coming back to Southside!
Can’t be worse than anyone who pitched for them yesterday (except Jordan Leasure).
Can he get hitters out?
Can you make a shoe smell?
can you make water wet?
I’ll bet his peripherals when he was getting hit were worse than those “bad” peripherals he had the year before. Maybe each pitcher is different (duh). Maybe the reason he was good, were they were good peripherals for him. Is 62 innings considered a small sample for a reliever? I think not.
His walk rate skyrocketed to 17.3 last year in only 15 innings. So yes, one of the 3 peripherals was much worse. The K and GB were similar to 2024. The BABIP and strand rate are stats that indicate good or bad luck for the most part. Although batted-ball metrics like hard-hit rate do affect BABIP to a degree.
This move hints at one of two moves:
a. Shane Smith is getting sent down. He hasn’t been right all spring and has plenty of options. Then Newcomb moves into the rotation and Hudson becomes the third lefty reliever.
b. Jordan Hicks is designated, cutting bait right away and possibly eating the rest of his 2026 salary in hopes of moving him now before other GMs get wise.
Which is more probable vs optimal?
Probably Tyler Gilbert is getting sent down, he has 1 option left and recorded a solid season last year so I expect him to be back at some point.
Not sure burning Gilbert’s last option would accomplish anything other than further constraining their staff.
I thought it was apparent that Shane Smith isn’t right since four of his five appearances have been horrid. When this happened last year just after the AllStar break, they acted proactively by inventing an injury and having him work for several weeks to tweak his grips & mechanics. It worked…he pitched well the rest of the season.
I think A is most probable, B ideal, but will acknowledge C is possible.
It was C…guess missing his spot badly & giving up a homer to lefty Sal Fredrick makes one option-worthy.
Were they not able to claim Landry?
Shame to split them up.
Not a bad move. Sox have a knack for turning around or developing one reliever a year. Hudson has at least seen success before.
We can’t rule out Gilbert being called up again since he was underrated last season.
White Sox getting back together with their ex