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White Sox Notes: Hamilton, Cease

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The White Sox already lost injured right-handers Ryan Burr, Jimmy Lambert and Zack Burdi for the season earlier Friday. Add fellow righty Ian Hamilton to the list, according to James Fegan of The Athletic. Hamilton will require multiple surgeries to repair multiple fractures he suffered to his jaw on a line drive earlier this season, Fegan reports.

Now 24, Hamilton joined the White Sox as an 11th-round pick in 2016. He reached the majors for the first time last season, throwing eight innings of four-earned run ball, but pitched solely at the minors’ highest level this year before suffering his injury. Hamilton made 16 appearances with Triple-A Charlotte and allowed more than an earned run per inning (18 in 16 1/3 frames), but he did register 11.02 K/9 against 1.65 BB/9 and post a 51.9 percent groundball rate.

Although Hamilton has struggled to prevent runs this year, he entered 2019 as a well-regarded prospect. MLB.com (No. 13) and FanGraphs (No. 30) currently place him among Chicago’s top 30 farmhands. Hamilton could eventually turn into a major league closer, per MLB.com, but that quest is now on hold. He followed Lambert and Burdi as the third top 30 White Sox prospect to be ruled out for the season Friday.

In better news for the White Sox, one of their premier righty prospects, Dylan Cease, is moving closer to his first big league promotion. The prized 23-year-old is “getting awful close” to joining the White Sox, general manager Rick Hahn said Friday (via Scott Merkin of MLB.com). Hahn noted two-plus weeks ago Cease was working toward a call-up, and it seems he has continued to build a case since then. Cease has put up a 4.62 ERA/3.79 FIP with 9.51 K/9, 4.06 BB/9 and a 54.9 percent grounder rate in 64 1/3 innings during his first Triple-A experience this year.

Three White Sox Pitchers Out For Season

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Three White Sox hurlers are out for the season, per reports from Scott Merkin of MLB.com and James Fegan of The Athletic. Right-handers Ryan Burr and Jimmy Lambert have undergone Tommy John procedures, while fellow righty Zack Burdi has a ligament tear in his patella.

Burr’s the lone member of the trio who has pitched in the majors to this point. The 25-year-old debuted with the White Sox last season and has since registered a 5.52 ERA/5.60 FIP with 7.98 K/9, 4.3 BB/9 and a 43.7 percent groundball rate in 29 1/3 innings. Chicago placed him on the injured list May 28 with a right elbow capsule strain.

Lambert, 24, has posted a 4.55 ERA/4.68 FIP with 10.62 K/9 and 4.1 BB/9 in 11 starts and 59 1/3 frames at the Double-A level this season. MLB.com ranks Lambert, a fifth-round pick of the White Sox in 2016, as the team’s 18th-best prospect.

Burdi follows his brother, Pirates reliever Nick Burdi, in missing the rest of the season. Nick Burdi underwent thoracic outlet syndrome surgery earlier this week. Zack Burdi’s injury may not be that severe, but it still pushes back a potential major league promotion. The 24-year-old, whom the White Sox drafted 26th overall in 2016, has experienced his first Double-A action this season and logged a 6.41 ERA/6.11 FIP with 10.98 K/9 and 5.95 BB/9 in 19 2/3 innings. Burdi checks in at No. 15 on MLB.com’s list of White Sox prospects.

White Sox Place Tim Anderson On IL, Select Ross Detwiler

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4:04pm: Anderson could miss four to six weeks, according to general manager Rick Hahn (via Scott Merkin of MLB.com).

2:37pm: The White Sox announced that they’ve placed shortstop Tim Anderson on the injured list due to a right ankle sprain, recalled outfielder Daniel Palka from Triple-A Charlotte and selected the contract of left-hander Ross Detwiler from Charlotte. The team’s previously reported DFA of Yonder Alonso is now also official.

There’s still no official word on how long Anderson will be sidelined, though he was wearing a walking boot earlier this week when it became apparent that an IL stint was quite likely. The 26-year-old shortstop is in the midst of a his best season, having batted .317/.342/.491 with 11 homers and 15 steals in 281 plate appearances. The free-swinging Anderson is still loath to take a walk (2.5 percent) and has benefited from a .373 average on balls in play, but he’s also made dramatic improvements in his hard-hit rate and average exit velocity, per Statcast.

Detwiler, 33, will start tonight’s series opener against the Twins. The journeyman left-hander opened the season with the York Revolution of the independent Atlantic League but quickly landed with the White Sox and has thrown 43 innings of 3.89 ERA ball thus far in Triple-A (albeit with a 6.21 FIP and 4.75 xFIP). The longtime Nats hurler has bounced around the league since being cut loose by Washington — most recently appearing in one big league game for the Mariners in 2018. Detwiler has a career 4.36 ERA with 5.5 K/9, 3.3 BB/9 and a 46 percent ground-ball rate in 584 big league innings.

White Sox Outright Odrisamer Despaigne

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White Sox right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne has accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Charlotte, James Fegan of The Athletic tweets. The club designated Despaigne on June 24.

Despaigne could have rejected an outright in favor of a return to free agency, but he’ll stick with Chicago, which signed him to a minor league deal May 19 after he opted out of a minors contract with the Reds. The 32-year-old Cuba native then recorded a 2.00 ERA/4.27 FIP with 8.0 K/9 and 2.0 BB/9 over 18 innings in Charlotte.

Despaigne’s output with the White Sox’s top affiliate earned him a promotion to the majors, though he wasn’t able to carry his success to the game’s highest level. Despaigne made three starts with the ChiSox and managed a 9.45 ERA/6.86 FIP with a matching 4.73 K/9 and BB/9 across 13 1/3 frames before they designated him.

Jose Abreu Wants To Stay With White Sox

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  • The White Sox have been open about their desire to keep Jose Abreu beyond the 2019 season, and the first baseman also has no plans to leave the south side, he tells Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune.  “I’ll always be a White Sox….I’m a part of this organization. This is the organization that gave me a chance to play at this level and made all my dreams come true. I hope to stay here a very long time,” Abreu said.  While there’s nothing stopping the Sox from trading Abreu at the deadline and then re-signing him after the season, Abreu said he expects to remain with the club.  As Sullivan notes, this might leave Alex Colome as the only real trade chip for the White Sox at the deadline, as Chicago’s other veteran players apart from Colome, Abreu, and James McCann (who might also be retained) have largely struggled.

White Sox To Designate Yonder Alonso For Assignment

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2:28pm: Feinsand tweets that the move won’t become official until tomorrow because the Sox are off today.

1:31pm: The White Sox have designated first baseman/designated hitter Yonder Alonso for assignment, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports (via Twitter). The team has yet to formally announce the move or a corresponding transaction.

The trade to bring Alonso to Chicago from Cleveland this offseason simply hasn’t panned out on any front for the White Sox. In 251 plate appearances, the 32-year-old slugger has struggled to a career-worst .178/.275/.301 batting line through 251 plate appearances with the South Siders. His acquisition was also portrayed as a potential means of swaying his brother-in-law, Manny Machado, to choose the ChiSox in free agency, but Machado ultimately went to San Diego, who topped the Sox’ reported offer by a hefty $50MM in guaranteed money.

Alonso is only two years removed from a breakout All-Star campaign in which he slashed .266/.365/.501 with a career-high 28 home runs. Alonso was one of the foremost examples of the “fly-ball revolution” that season, but this year’s 43.1 percent ground-ball rate is his highest mark since the 2016 season. His 37.7 percent fly-ball rate, meanwhile, is his lowest since that same year.

Alonso parlayed that breakout effort into a two-year, $16MM contract with the Indians. Viewed as a more cost-effective replacement for Carlos Santana (who they reacquired this winter), Alonso wasn’t able to replicate his 2017 production in Cleveland but still posted a respectable .250/.317/.421 line with 23 homers last year. The Indians spent much of the offseason working to shed salary and reduce payroll, though, and dealing Alonso to the division-rival White Sox was a part of those efforts.

Chicago will have a week to trade, outright or release Alonso, who is still owed about $5.13MM through season’s end (including the buyout on a 2020 option). That salary makes a release the most likely outcome. If Alonso is indeed cut loose, he’d become a free agent who can sign with any club and would only be owed the prorated portion of the league minimum through the remainder of the season. That sum would be subtracted from what the Sox still owe him.

White Sox To Sign First-Rounder Andrew Vaughn

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The White Sox have agreed to sign first-rounder Andrew Vaughn, the third pick in this year’s draft, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports. Vaughn will receive a bonus worth $7.2212MM, right in line with the recommended slot value of his selection.

Vaughn, a 21-year-old first baseman from the University of California, entered the draft as a consensus elite prospect. All of ESPN’s Keith Law (No. 2), MLB.com (No. 3), Baseball America (No. 3) and FanGraphs (No. 4) ranked Vaughn as one of the four best players on the board. Law, the most bullish of the bunch, wrote in his subscription-only draft preview that Vaughn possesses the “best pure bat in the class” and likely the best plate discipline in the group. There are, however, questions about Vaughn’s 5-foot-10 frame, Law notes.

Vaughn’s a year removed from winning the Golden Spikes Award, which is given to the premier player in college baseball. The honor in 2019 went to Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman, whom the Orioles took No. 1 this year and then signed to a record bonus.

White Sox To Place Tim Anderson On Injured List

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WEDNESDAY, 11:27am: Anderson’s going to the IL, though the severity of his injury is still unknown, per Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune. Garcia will start at short for the White Sox on Wednesday.

9:39am: Anderson has a high ankle sprain and is wearing a walking boot, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times was among those to report. An IL stint does seem likely for Anderson, but the team will know more after he goes for an MRI.

TUESDAY: White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson left the team’s game Tuesday against the Red Sox because of a sprained right ankle. X-Rays came back negative, though a stint on the injured list is still a legitimate possibility, James Fegan of The Athletic suggests. Anderson will undergo an MRI on Wednesday to determine the severity of the sprain.

An IL stay would temporarily halt what has been a career offensive season for Anderson. After combining for an 86 wRC+ in 1,643 plate appearances during his first three seasons from 2016-18, Anderson’s up to 122 in that category this year.

Over 281 trips to the plate in 2019, the 26-year-old Anderson has slashed .317/.342/.491 with 11 home runs and 15 stolen bases. Anderson’s production has dropped as the season has gone on, however, and further regression could be in store. After all, he owns the league’s worst K/BB ratio, a sky-high .375 batting average on balls in play and a 22-point gap between his .354 weighted on-base average and .332 expected wOBA.

While good fortune has aided Anderson’s numbers this year, he’s still one of Chicago’s most valuable players and building blocks. It’s fair to say Anderson’s absence would further damage the team’s fading playoff hopes. During the rare occasions Anderson hasn’t lined up at shortstop this year, the White Sox have turned to Jose Rondon and Leury Garcia in his stead. Rondon has been dreadful this season, though, while Garcia is the club’s preferred starter in center field.

White Sox Sign Second-Rounder Matthew Thompson

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  • The White Sox have signed second-rounder Matthew Thompson for $2.1 million, Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com tweets. Thompson’s pick, No. 45, came with a recommended slot value of $1,650,200. The 18-year-old Thompson’s a high school right-hander from Texas whom Mayo and colleague Jim Callis ranked as the 69th-best player entering the draft. Thompson, who had committed to Texas A&M, possesses “an ultra-quick arm and an athletic delivery” that could help him turn into a No. 3 starter in the majors, Mayo and Callis write. He’s the first of the three top 100 White Sox picks from this year’s class to sign. They still have to lock up first baseman Andrew Vaughn (No. 3 overall) and righty Andrew Dalquist (No. 81).

White Sox Designate Odrisamer Despaigne, Activate Jon Jay

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The White Sox announced Monday that they’ve activated outfielder Jon Jay from the 60-day injured list for his season debut and designated right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne for assignment in order to open a roster spot.

Jay, 34, was signed to a one-year deal worth $4MM in the offseason — perhaps in part as an unsuccessful enticement to close friend Manny Machado, whom the Sox recruited heavily — but has yet to play in 2019 due to a hip injury. Jay hit .358/.382/.396 in 13 games with Triple-A Charlotte while rehabbing and batted a combined .268/.330/.347 through 586 combined plate appearances with the Royals and D-backs in 2018.

The veteran Jay is capable of manning all three outfield spots, and while he’s lacking in power, he has a knack for putting the ball in play at a high rate (career 16.5 percent strikeout rate). A lifetime .285/.352/.378 hitter, he’ll join an outfield mix that currently contains Eloy Jimenez, Leury Garcia, Charlie Tilson and Ryan Cordell.

Despaigne, 32, was tattooed for 14 runs on 24 hits and seven walks with seven strikeouts in 13 1/3 innings for the South Siders. The Cuban-born righty has appeared in the big leagues in each of the past six seasons but hasn’t found success outside of his 2014 rookie season in San Diego and a solid run with the Marlins in 2017. Overall, he has a career 5.11 ERA with 224 strikeouts against 130 walks in 363 MLB innings.

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