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White Sox Activate Lance Lynn From Injured List

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The White Sox are reinstating righty Lance Lynn from the injured list to start this afternoon’s game against the Indians (via James Fegan of the Athletic). Outfielder Luis González has been optioned to the alternate training site in a corresponding move.

Lynn went on the IL on April 18 with a right trapezius strain. He’ll wind up missing just a couple starts. One of Chicago’s biggest offseason acquisitions, Lynn got off to a fantastic start with his new team. Over his first three appearances, the veteran righty tossed 19.2 innings of four-run ball (two earned), striking out 27 while only issuing two walks. He’ll now rejoin Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, Carlos Rodón and Dylan Cease in the rotation.

With Lynn sidelined, Michael Kopech stepped in to start a pair of games. The young righty was stellar- particularly in his most recent appearance, when he struck out ten Rangers’ hitters without a walk over five innings. Still, Chicago is likely to move Kopech back into a relief role as they keep an eye on his innings total. He missed all of 2019 recovering from Tommy John surgery and opted out of last season due to concerns about COVID-19, so the Sox will surely be cautious building his arm strength back.

White Sox Place Garrett Crochet On IL, Activate Luis Robert

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The White Sox announced that lefty Garrett Crochet has been placed on the 10-day IL (retroactive to April 26) with an upper back strain. The South Siders also reinstated center fielder Luis Robert from the injured list and called up infielder Danny Mendick to serve as the 27th man for today’s twin bill against the Tigers.

Crochet’s ascension to and dominance in the Majors has been rather remarkable. The 21-year-old was the No. 11 overall pick out of Tennessee last year but was in the big leagues just months later and even made Chicago’s postseason roster. Counting that lone appearance in the AL Wild Card Series, which saw him depart early due to a left forearm strain, he’s pitched 15 2/3 innings and held opponents to one earned run (plus three unearned) on 12 hits and five walks with 18 strikeouts. Crochet averaged 100.2 mph on his heater in 2020, though that average velo is down to “only” 96.6 mph early in 2021.

The Sox have yet to give any indication as to how long Crochet might be sidelined. His absence leaves Aaron Bummer as the only southpaw option in the bullpen, and the Sox don’t have another lefty option on the 40-man roster to call up as a replacement. They do have a trio of non-roster lefties slated to open the year in Triple-A, however: Jacob Lindgren, Kodi Medeiros and Nik Turley.

Robert returns after just a couple days away from the roster. He’d been on the Covid list after reporting symptoms but looks to have been quickly tested negative and been cleared to play. Mendick will return for a brief look after going 6-for-16 with five walks and five strikeouts in 21 plate appearances earlier this season. He’s a .272/.320/.401 hitter in 175 plate appearances and can play all over the infield.

White Sox To Place Luis Robert On IL

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The White Sox are placing center fielder Luis Robert on the injured list with flu-like symptoms, general manager Rick Hahn told James Fegan of The Athletic and other reporters. Robert will undergo further testing to determine how much time he’ll miss. The team is recalling right-hander Alex McRae to take Robert’s roster spot.

Robert burst on the scene in 2020 as an American League Rookie of the Year candidate and a Gold Glove winner, and he got off to a nice start this season before this illness cropped up. The 23-year-old has slashed .305/.356/.463 with a home run and four steals in 90 plate appearances, and has cut his strikeout rate by almost 7 percent since last season.

Robert will be a difficult player for the White Sox to go without, considering he has started all 21 of their games in center this year. The White Sox will start Leury Garcia there on Tuesday against the Tigers, and they also recalled Luis Gonzalez for depth purposes.

Yonder Alonso Joins MLB Network

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Recently retired slugger Yonder Alonso has joined the MLB Network as an on-air analyst, the network announced in a Tuesday press release. He’ll debut as a guest co-host on Intentional Talk this Friday.

“I am beyond thankful to be joining MLB Network’s team, and I can’t thank everybody enough that has helped me get to this point,” Alonso said in today’s press release. “Having just retired, I look forward to having fun and contributing new insights about the game to baseball fans all over the world.”

The 34-year-old Alonso announced his retirement back in November after a 10-year big league career split between the Padres, Athletics, Reds, Rockies, Indians, Mariners and White Sox. The No. 7 overall pick in the 2008 draft, Alonso finished sixth in Rookie of the Year voting with the Padres in 2012 and was an All-Star with the 2017 A’s. He finished up his playing days with a career .259/.332/.404 batting line and an even 100 home runs.

Latest On White Sox Rotation

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Lucas Giolito suffered a “freak minor injury,” pushing his start back from yesterday to Tuesday and allowing the White Sox to keep Michael Kopech in the rotation for one more go. He delivered with his longest and most-impressive outing of the season, using 87 pitches to get through five innings, striking out ten, giving up four hits, zero walks and one run in a win against the Rangers.

White Sox manager Tony La Russa believes in Kopech’s long-term potential as a rotation arm, but he’ll go back to a hybrid role out of the bullpen for now. Per the Athletic’s James Fegan, La Russa said, “This is definitely not the time to think about moving Michael into the rotation. Michael Kopech is going to be a top-line starting pitcher. But right now it made sense to get him in condition and add more and more pitches. More importantly, the fact that he has competed so well shows that he has guts when he goes out there; he keeps his cool and concentration. I don’t have a crystal ball, but if he pitched — and I use the (Adam) Wainwright experience from ’06 — he can pitch in the bullpen all year long and maybe next year win 20 (games), or maybe later on he pitches this year as a starter.”

Kopech has made a pair of spot starts this year in his first game action since 2018. He’s also come out of the bullpen four times for a total of 15 2/3 innings – already a big-league career-high – with a sparkling 1.72 ERA/1.25 FIP. He’s striking out batters at an elite 46.6 percent rate while allowing a very strong 6.9 percent walk. It’s early, of course, but even out of the pen, the lanky 24-year-old with electric stuff is proving to be a weapon for the White Sox.

Kopech has come a long way since being a centerpiece of the Chris Sale trade back in 2016. It’s somewhat amazing that he’ll turn just 25 years old this upcoming Friday. Fegan detailed Kopech’s journey back to the Majors for a piece well worth a read here in the Athletic.

Lucas Giolito Pushed Back Due To Minor Finger Injury

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  • Michael Kopech will start for the White Sox today rather than originally-scheduled starter Lucas Giolito, who told reporters (including Vinnie Duber of NBC Sports Chicago) he has been “pushed back a couple of days” due to a cut on the middle finger of his throwing hand.  As Giolito explained in self-deprecating fashion, he suffered the minor injury because “I thought that a glass water bottle I had was twist-off, and it wasn’t twist-off.”  The team decided to hold Giolito out of today’s start just to be cautious, and the right-hander expects to pitch Tuesday when the White Sox open a series against the Tigers.

White Sox Select Alex McRae

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  • The White Sox selected right-hander Alex McRae before their game against the Indians and optioned righty Zack Burdi to their alternate site. McRae, a 10th-round pick of the Pirates in 2014, amassed 33 innings with the team from 2018-19, but he struggled to an 8.18 ERA with similarly unappealing strikeout and walk percentages of 14.6 and 12.8, respectively. The Pirates outrighted McRae after his second season in the majors, and he caught on with the White Sox on a minor league contract. The 28-year-old threw three scoreless innings for the club in 2020, but it then outrighted him before bringing him back on another minors deal.

White Sox Place Lance Lynn On Injured List

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3:47 pm: The team is hopeful Lynn will only need to miss one start, per Fegan (via Twitter).

3:24 pm: The White Sox are placing right-hander Lance Lynn on the injured list with a strained right trapezius muscle, retroactive to April 17, James Fegan of the Athletic was among those to relay (Twitter link). Reliever Zack Burdi is being recalled from the alternate training site in a corresponding move.

Chicago acquired Lynn from the Rangers over the winter in one of the biggest offseason moves for any team. The 33-year-old (34 next month) has given the Sox everything they could’ve asked for over his first three starts, tossing 19.2 innings of 0.92 ERA/2.36 SIERA ball, striking out 27 against only two walks. The White Sox didn’t announce a timetable for his potential return.

With Lynn sidelined, Chicago figures to lean on a rotation of Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, Dylan Cease, Michael Kopech and Carlos Rodón. Kopech is slated to start this evening’s game against the Red Sox.

White Sox Outright Nick Williams

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TODAY: Williams cleared waivers and was outrighted to the alternate training site, the team announced.  Williams will remain as part of the White Sox taxi squad for their series against the Red Sox this weekend.

APRIL 15: The White Sox have reinstated shortstop Tim Anderson from the 10-day injured list and opened a roster spot by designating outfielder Nick Williams for assignment, per a club announcement. Anderson hit the injured list with a strained left hamstring last week, but his IL stint wound up lasting the minimum 10 days.

Williams, 27, had a big spring showing with the ChiSox, hitting .300/.364/.475 in 46 trips to the plate, but he’s opened the year hitless through 13 regular-season plate appearances. Williams has seen action in four games, including three starts in left field that have come at the expense of top prospect Andrew Vaughn, who is learning the outfield on the fly. At least on the surface, it would seem that Williams’ DFA could open the door for more regular playing time for Vaughn, who has somewhat puzzlingly started just half of the White Sox’ games thus far.

Williams himself once rated as one of the game’s top 30 overall prospects, per Baseball America, but that was five years ago. The former second-round pick has tallied 916 plate appearances in the Majors but carries a rather tepid .251/.312/.415 batting line in that time. The majority of his production came in a solid rookie effort back in 2017, however, and Williams has mustered just a .229/.297/.380 output in his past 573 MLB plate appearances.

The White Sox will have a week to trade Williams to another club, attempt to pass him through outright waivers or simply release him.

COVID Notes: 4/16/21

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Friday’s coronavirus-related updates from the majors:

  • The Astros placed second baseman Jose Altuve, third baseman Alex Bregman, designated hitter Yordan Alvarez, catcher Martin Maldonado and infielder Robel Garcia on the COVID injured list Wednesday. They’re unlikely to return for the team’s five-game road trip, manager Dusty Baker told Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle and other reporters. The Astros begin a three-game series in Seattle on Friday, and they’re scheduled to play in Colorado next Tuesday and Wednesday.
  • The White Sox announced that they have reinstated right-hander Dylan Cease from the COVID IL and optioned righty Zack Burdi to their alternate site. Cease was only on the list for two days, but he’s already set to return after “a series of negative tests,” the team stated. He’ll make his third start of the season Saturday against the Red Sox. Cease logged a 3.86 ERA with nine strikeouts and six walks over 9 1/3 innings in his first two appearances.
  • Twins manager Rocco Baldelli revealed that he received a false positive test on Thursday, Betsy Helfand of the St. Paul Pioneer Press tweets. He isolated in his office and was then cleared after three or four more tests. The Twins aren’t out of the woods yet, though, as Baldelli said (via Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com) that they’ve had “further COVID-related issues in the clubhouse” on Friday. He couldn’t offer further details.
  • The Phillies with go without three members of manager Joe Girardi’s staff because of COVID protocols, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com. Hitting coach Joe Dillon, third base coach Dusty Wathan and bullpen coach Dave Lundquist are all away from the team. First base coach Paco Figueroa will move across the diamond to third, and coaching assistant Bobby Meacham will take over at first, Matt Breen of the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
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