- White Sox outfielder Jon Jay began a rehab assignment with Double-A Birmingham on Monday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com tweets. Perhaps in an attempt to lure his friend Manny Machado to the South Side of Chicago, the White Sox signed Jay to a $4MM guarantee in the offseason. Machado wound up in San Diego, however, and the 34-year-old Jay still hasn’t played under his new deal because of a hip issue. Long a competent if unspectacular offensive player, Jay has batted .285/.352/.378 (103 wRC+) in 4,061 attempts at the major league level.
White Sox Rumors
Orioles Considering Several Players For First Overall Pick
With less than a day to go before the 2019 amateur draft, the Orioles seem to still be exploring their options with the first overall pick. Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman has long been considered the top talent in this year’s draft class by scouts and pundits, though according to MLB.com’s Jim Callis and Jonathan Mayo, the Orioles are also looking at Cal first baseman Andrew Vaughn and Vanderbilt outfielder J.J. Bleday as “the top two alternatives” if Rutschman doesn’t end up being the pick (plus, high schooler Bobby Witt Jr. also might be a possibility).
Two scouts on rival teams have told Mayo that the Orioles won’t select Rutschman, though Mayo notes, this could also be some of the gamesmanship every team deploys to create uncertainty about their selections. Still, Baltimore’s front office hasn’t given any indication about their plans in Mike Elias’ first draft as the team’s GM, and the linking of Rutschman to the O’s was more based on Rutschman’s high profile than it was on any reports coming out of Camden Yards.
A wealth of factors go into any draft pick, of course, especially one as important and potentially franchise-altering as a 1-1 selection. It’s worth remember that Elias was the Astros’ director of amateur scouting when the team made the then-surprising move to select Carlos Correa with the first overall pick of the 2012 draft. Mark Appel was widely tabbed as the top prospect of the 2012 class, though since Correa was willing to sign for a lesser bonus than the recommended slot price attached to the first overall pick, Correa ended up being the choice, giving the Astros more space in their draft pool to sign Lance McCullers Jr. for a larger bonus in the supplemental first round (41st overall).
We haven’t heard much about what Rutschman or some of this year’s top prospects are seeking in their first contracts, though if Vaughn or Bleday are willing to sign for less than the first overall pick’s recommended $8,415,300 slot price, that certainly be a point in their favor should Elias again look to spread his bonus pool money around on several top prospects.
Beyond just finances, of course, the O’s could also simply prefer Vaughn, Bleday, Witt, or another player to Rutschman for pure baseball reasons. The Astros received some criticism for being cheap when they took Correa over Appel, though time has clearly vindicated Houston’s strategy in that draft.
If Rutschman isn’t the top pick, it could greatly shake up the remainder of the first round. As a matter of due diligence, teams scout virtually all of the top prospects to prepare for just such an unexpected scenario, plus other teams could also be preparing to make outside-the-box situations. Callis and Mayo cite a number of interesting prospects within their piece, including an item on how high school third baseman Brett Baty’s stock could be on the rise, potentially to the Rangers (who have the #8 pick) or even the White Sox with the third overall choice. Vaughn, Baty, Bleday, and high schooler CJ Abrams have all been mentioned as being on Chicago’s radar, though these plans could again change should Rutschman or Witt be available when the White Sox are on the clock.
James McCann: Offensive Force?
A few weeks into last offseason, the White Sox parted with their 2017-18 primary catcher, Omar Narvaez, sending him to the Mariners for reliever Alex Colome on Nov. 30. The White Sox found Narvaez’s replacement a couple weeks later when they signed former Tigers starting backstop James McCann to a one-year, $2.5MM deal. In other words, a franchise mired in a 10-year playoff drought paid a minimal cost for an unexciting (maybe even bad) major leaguer. You’re forgiven if you couldn’t have cared less at the time.
Five-plus months later, Chicago’s decision to buy low on McCann looks like one of one of the shrewdest of the winter. The 28-year-old has been an absolute hitting machine as a member of the White Sox, with whom he has slashed .346/.384/.523 (145 wRC+) in 138 plate appearances. Based on wRC+, McCann has been in the same league as franchise catchers Gary Sanchez (154) and Willson Contreras (152) in overall offensive production. It’s a stunning rise for McCann, whom the Tigers non-tendered in November in lieu of paying a projected $3.5MM in arbitration.
McCann can now take solace in the fact that he has been a revelation with division-rival Chicago this year while Detroit’s catchers have been dreadful. That said, the Tigers weren’t crazy for letting him go. McCann was a useful regular for the Tigers once – in 2017 – but still didn’t manage world-beating offensive production that year. His Tigers tenure, which spanned from 2014-18, concluded with a .240/.288/.366 line (76 wRC+) and minus-0.2 fWAR in 1,646 trips to the plate. That’s bad. Defensively, McCann did throw out between 30 and 45 percent of base runners in each of his seasons in the Motor City. That’s good. But he floundered as a pitch framer and blocker. That’s bad.
What we know is that McCann has thrived as a White Sox after he did no such thing as a Tiger. The question is whether he’s born anew in a different uniform, if it’s just a two-month blip or something in between. First of all, he’s not going to sustain this kind of offensive production. He didn’t really walk in Detroit and hasn’t in Chicago either, having recorded rates in the 5 percent range with both teams. McCann’s also not going to keep up a .435 batting average on balls in play, especially considering his lifetime mark is .309. Plus, as someone who currently has four home runs and has never topped 13 in a full season, he won’t make up for his inevitable drop in average with a significant power surge.
While the above paragraph paints a bleak picture, all hope isn’t lost for McCann, who has cut his strikeout and chase rates by roughly 3 percent and elevated his contact rate by about 2 percent. He has also made more meaningful contact, evidenced in part by a noticeable rise in isolated power. McCann put up an unimposing .126 ISO with the Tigers, including a woeful .094 last year, though he’s running a career-high .183 in the category this season. FanGraphs indicates McCann has slashed his soft contact rate by almost 6 percent, while Statcast shows his average exit velocity has hopped from 87.5 mph to 90.5. Statcast also credits McCann with a .347 expected weighted on-base average. That’s a hefty 48 points below his real wOBA (.395), but it’s still 24 points above average and more than respectable for a catcher.
The right-handed McCann has done a lot of his 2019 damage against same-sided pitchers, which is noteworthy in his case because they’ve typically stymied him. When Chicago added McCann, it couldn’t have expected him to suddenly prove capable of handling righties. He has so far, though, and his offensive strides have come with improved defense. Not only has McCann continued to stop would-be base thieves at a high rate (35 percent), but he has been a scratch overall defensive player after grading out as one of the league’s worst catchers in 2018, according to Baseball Prospectus. If that’s not enough, McCann has developed a solid rapport with potential ace Lucas Giolito.
Adding everything up, it’s clear the McCann signing has worked out brilliantly for the White Sox. He has already given Chicago 1.6 fWAR, double his previous career high, and could remain in the team’s plans beyond this season. Once the 2019 campaign finishes, the Sox will have to decide whether to tender McCann a contract for his final year of arbitration eligibility. It would be a no-brainer decision right now. However, in the seemingly improbable event McCann’s overall production careens off a cliff, the club will be able to move on without any damage.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Alex Colome Discusses Trade Possibility
Reliever Alex Colome is just a few months into his tenure with the White Sox, who acquired him from the Mariners for catcher Omar Narvaez in November. The rebuilding White Sox are not in playoff contention, however, and the 30-year-old Colome looks like a valuable trade chip. As such, the team could flip him in advance of the July 31 deadline. While Colome told Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago-Sun Times that he’d like to continue with the White Sox, he realizes a trade is a possibility.
“The [general managers] know their situations, they know what they need to do,” Colome said. “We’ll see what happens in the next month or month and a half.”
The right-handed Colome has been part of two trades in the past 12 months. We just passed the one-year anniversary of a May 25, 2018, deal that sent Colome from the Rays to the Mariners.
Regardless of which uniform he has donned, Colome has been a quality reliever throughout his career. Since he broke in with the Rays in 2013, Colome has totaled 265 appearances (246 out of the bullpen) and notched a 2.82 ERA/3.10 FIP with 9.22 K/9, 2.61 BB/9 and a 44.9 percent groundball rate in 258 2/3 relief innings.
Colome, who’s fresh off three seasons of 56 or more innings, has picked up 22 2/3 frames thus far with Chicago. He’s preventing runs at an excellent clip (1.59 ERA), dishing out fewer walks than ever (1.99 per nine), generating swings and misses at a career-best pace and yielding less contact than in previous seasons. Despite all those positives, regression toward Colome’s still-impressive 3.08 FIP appears inevitable.
Colome’s fly ball rate has increased by almost 22 percent since 2018 (from 29.6 to 50.9) at the expense of his groundball percentage, which has dipped from 46.2 to 35.8. Somehow, though, Colome has only yielded home runs on 7.4 percent of fly balls. That’s likely to change for the worse, while Colome’s batting average on balls in play against (.122) and strand rate (88.2) may also be in for reality checks. Likewise, the 136-point gap between Colome’s weighted on-base average/expected wOBA against (.183 versus .319) portends trouble.
Colome probably isn’t as dominant as his 2019 ERA indicates, but he’s still capable of helping a bullpen in multiple roles. He’s 11 of 11 on save chances this season, 106 for 125 in his career, and is just a year removed from piling up 30 holds. That late-game flexibility will appeal to contenders if Chicago makes Colome available in the next two months. His reasonable salary ($7.325MM) and one remaining year of arbitration control only add to his value.
The Long-Awaited Arrival Of Lucas Giolito
As a former first-round pick (16th overall in 2012) who later became one of Major League Baseball’s premier prospects, there was optimism right-hander Lucas Giolito would develop into a front-line starter in the pros. It just took longer than expected. Seven years after the Nationals selected him, it looks as if Giolito is breaking through in a White Sox uniform.
Giolito joined the White Sox in December 2016 as part of one of that offseason’s highest-profile trades. It was a polarizing deal for the Nationals, with many enthusiastic about their addition of outfielder Adam Eaton – who was controllable for an eminently reasonable $38.4MM over a half-decade at the time. Others ripped the Nationals for giving up too much to acquire Eaton, for whom they surrendered Giolito and a pair of other quality righty prospects in Reynaldo Lopez and Dane Dunning.
A couple years later, it’s fair to say the trade hasn’t worked out quite as Washington hoped. Eaton has been mostly good in a Nationals uniform when on the field, but injuries limited him to 23 games in 2017 and 95 last year. Durability hasn’t been an issue for Eaton this season, though he’s not yet producing at prior levels. Worsening matters, the Nats haven’t won a playoff series since adding Eaton, and the disappointing club’s currently on track to miss out on October ball for the second straight season.
As for the rebuilding White Sox, the results of the Eaton deal have been mixed. Lopez has been inconsistent since he debuted with them in 2017, while Dunning – although still a good prospect – just underwent Tommy John surgery in March. Fortunately for the White Sox, Giolito may be here to save the day, which is somewhat unexpected considering the struggles he endured in both the minors and majors over the past couple years.
Giolito pitched his first full major league season in 2018, racking up 32 starts and 173 1/3 innings, but it wasn’t pretty. He ranked dead last among qualified starters in ERA (6.13), FIP (5.56) and K/BB ratio (1.39). Consequently, there wasn’t much optimism centering on Giolito entering the 2019 campaign. But the 24-year-old worked diligently over the winter to turn around his fortunes, as James Fegan of The Athletic detailed in February, and has reaped the rewards of a change in delivery.
Giolito got off to a slow start through his first five outings of the season, evidenced by the 5.32 ERA he possessed and the 12 walks he issued through 23 2/3 innings as of May 2. But over his five most recent starts, Giolito has delivered excellent results; he yielded five earned runs on 17 hits over that 36 1/3-frame span and posted a 39:8 K/BB ratio. In his crowning moment of that stretch, Giolito fired a complete game, four-hit road shutout against Houston’s incredible offense on May 23. Thanks in part to that start, Giolito owns a superb 2.85 ERA/2.84 FIP with 10.35 K/9 and 3.00 BB/9 across 60 innings on the season. He has already accounted for two wins above replacement after finishing in the minuses in that category in 2018.
Perhaps you’re still skeptical of Giolito, who did face the below-averages offenses of the Blue Jays (twice), Indians and Royals during his recent stretch of brilliance. It’s hard to deny there has been major progress, though. Here’s a look at some of the key strides Giolito has made this year…
- Throwing more strikes: According to Baseball-Reference, Giolito threw strikes 60.5 percent of the time last year. That ranked 116th out of 121 qualifiers and helped lead to 4.57 walks per nine innings. He’s now generating strikes at a 66.3 percent clip, good for 31st out of 130 hurlers. Giolito has also seen his zone percentage climb from 47.2 to 52.6 percent, and his first-pitch strike rate has shot from 55.4 to 62.0.
- Amassing far more strikeouts and whiffs: Giolito drew swinging strikes at an 8.3 percent clip in 2018. That number’s now at 12.8 percent. This year’s version of Giolito ranks 19th among all starters in that category. It helps explain the meteoric rise in his K/9, which was 6.49 in 2018.
- An increase in velocity and a remade repertoire: Giolito’s average fastball velocity clocked in below 93 mph from 2017-18. The mean has jumped to 94.5 mph this year, though, and he’s throwing the pitch far more often. After turning to the offering just under 40 percent of the time in 2018, Giolito has gone to it at a 55.2 percent rate this season. He has also bagged his sinker, which was his second-most common pitch a year ago, and thrown more change-ups and fewer breaking balls. Giolito’s three main pitches – his fastball, change and slider – have all been among the most effective in baseball so far, according to FanGraphs.
- Limiting contact: Giolito’s contact rate has dropped from 80.7 percent to 73.5 in a year’s time. While his groundball percentage simultaneously has fallen 8 percentage points (44.4 to 36.4), Giolito isn’t allowing high-impact fly balls. Not only is Giolito second in the majors in infield fly rate (17.5 percent), but his average FB distance against has plunged from 315 feet to 301. In the process, his wOBA/xwOBA tandem has gone from .345/.350 to .261/.277.
All things considered, it appears Giolito is evolving into one of baseball’s preeminent young starters and delivering on the considerable hype he garnered as a prospect. If true, he’ll be a long-term building block for the White Sox and one-fifth of what could be an exciting rotation for years to come. That will depend somewhat on whether Lopez, Dunning and top-end prospects Dylan Cease and Michael Kopech – who’s recovering from 2018 Tommy John surgery – pan out.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
White Sox Place Ryan Burr On 10-Day IL
The White Sox announced today that reliever Ryan Burr has been placed on the 10-day injured list. He’s said to be dealing with a right elbow capsule strain.
In Burr’s place, fellow righty Jose Ruiz has been recalled. He already had a 40-man spot so no further roster moves are required.
Burr, who turns 25 today, had been off to a reasonably useful start to the year. While he has allowed ten earned runs in 19 2/3 innings, he’s sporting a solid 20:8 K/BB ratio. Burr’s 8.7% swinging-strike rate isn’t overly impressive, but he’s drawing grounders at a 47.4% clip and clocking in with a strong 95.7 mph average heater.
It isn’t clear at this point how severe the injury is or what kind of timetable might be anticipated. Burr’s IL placement is retroactive to May 25th. The White Sox pen hasn’t exactly been a stellar unit this year. Though it sits in the middle of the pack in terms of ERA, it’s a bottom-three outfit by measure of SIERA.
Jon Jay Nearing Rehab Assignment
- It seems that a rehab assignment is the next step up for White Sox outfielder Jon Jay, as Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times writes. Jay has taken quite some time to recover from an injury suffered this spring that, per Van Schouwen, “affected his hip, low back and groin.” The veteran outfielder is testing his body in extended Spring Training but seems to be on track to join an affiliate in short order.
White Sox Notes: Jay, Castillo, Zavala, Banuelos
White Sox outfielder Jon Jay is finally showing some signs of progress in his effort to return from a groin strain. As Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times tweets, GM Rick Hahn says that Jay may not be far from a rehab stint. He’s expanding his workload at extended spring training at the moment. When Jay inked a one-year, $4MM deal the idea was that he’d help solidify the overall outfield unit, and perhaps also help woo Manny Machado to the South Side. Neither concept has paid off to this point, though there’s still time for Jay to be a 2019 contributor and perhaps even turn into a trade chip.
- Welington Castillo, meanwhile, is headed to the injured list, per Van Schouwen (Twitter link). It’s been a rough start to the season for Castillo, whose -0.2 fWAR can largely be attributed to his .176/.286/.318 slash line. Defensively, Castillo’s strength is in deterring the run game. Framing metrics have looked less kindly upon Castillo’s work behind the dish. The 32-year-old veteran returned to Chicago last season after spending the early portion of his career with the Cubs. In his first season on the South Side, Castillo hit .259/.304/.406 across 49 games in 2018, though the bulk of playing time went to the since-traded Omar Narvaez. This season it’s been the James McCann show with starts split almost down the middle, despite McCann’s blistering start to the season. Officially, Castillo was placed on the 7-day concussion list, per The Athletic’s James Fegan (via Twitter).
- Taking over Castillo’s spot on the roster – and making his major league debut – will be Texas native Seby Zavala. Over parts of this season and last, the 25-year-old Zavala slashed .234/.261/.405 for Triple-A Charlotte. He posted much better offensive numbers in lower levels, particularly in regards to his approach and contact skills. Despite his current 36.3% strikeout rate and 4.4% walk rate, Zavala prepares to make his debut at the game’s highest level as soon as this afternoon.
- Lefty Manny Banuelos is also being reinstated from the injured list, tweets Fegan. Banuelos has been out of action with a shoulder strain since May 15. Banuelos, 28, has appeared in 9 games this season, starting 5, going 2-3 with a 7.26 ERA. Ten home runs in 31 innings played no small part in the high ERA, but Banuelos struggled with his command as well with 5.5 BB/9.
White Sox Option Nick Delmonico
The White Sox have optioned outfielder Nicky Delmonico to Triple-A Charlotte, tweets James Fegan of The Athletic. While a corresponding move will be made official tomorrow, it’s expected that rookie outfielder Eloy Jimenez will be activated ahead of the series opener versus Houston.
Delmonico has scuffled out of the gates this season, posting a disappointing .586 OPS in 20 games for the White Sox. Following a promising rookie season in which a 13.9% walk rate carried him to a .373 OBP, Delmonico’s plate disciplined has trended steadily downward, culminating in a 6.3% walk rate that has fueled a .281 OBP in 2019. What’s worse, the 26-year-old’s strikeouts have moved in the opposite direction, with 35.9% of Delmonico’s 2019 plate appearances ending in strikeouts, compared to just 18.7% in 2017. Of course, the hope is that a stint in the minor leagues will allow the young outfielder ample opportunity to reverse these troubling developments and make the necessary adjustments to return to the big league club.
Assuming that Jimenez takes Delmonico’s place on the active roster, it will mark his first appearance since April 26, when he suffered a high ankle sprain. The highly-touted rookie has thus far experienced a mixed bag of results in the Majors, with a .674 OPS and 25 strikeouts in 85 plate appearances.
White Sox Sign Odrisamer Despaigne
The White Sox have signed right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne to a minor league contract, per an announcement from their Triple-A affiliate in Charlotte. Francys Romero of Las Mayores was first to report the news.
Prior to Sunday, Despaigne had spent the entire season with the Reds’ Triple-A team in Louisville, where he logged a 3.92 ERA/4.60 FIP with 8.7 K/9, 3.48 BB/9 and a 53.4 percent groundball rate in 41 1/3 innings. Despaigne’s brief Reds tenure concluded Thursday when he opted out of the minor league deal he signed over the winter.
Considering the struggles of Chicago’s pitching staff, Despaigne could make it back to the bigs this year if he shows well with Charlotte. The 32-year-old is an experienced major leaguer who has piled up a combined 349 2/3 innings, 106 appearances and 47 starts of 4.94 ERA/4.35 FIP ball in stints with the Padres, Orioles, Marlins and Angels. Despaigne struggled at the major league level in Miami and Anaheim in 2018, though, thus relegating him to the minors this season.
