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White Sox Announce Wild Card Series Roster

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The White Sox have officially set their 28-man roster for their wild card series against the A’s, beginning today in Oakland.  Lucas Giolito will be on the mound this afternoon, while Dallas Keuchel is slated to start Game 2.

The biggest headline (and sign of relief for Chicago fans) of the roster announcement is the presence of Eloy Jimenez, who has been out of action since September 24 due to a mid-foot sprain.  Utilityman Leury Garcia is also back from injury, being activated off the 45-day injured list after missing close to seven weeks due to a torn thumb ligament.

Jimenez isn’t in the lineup for Game 1, however, as Garcia is starting in left field and Yasmani Grandal is the DH.  The White Sox will start James McCann at catcher, and the roster inclusion of Zack Collins could hint at additional DH duty for Grandal depending on both Jimenez’s status and Chicago’s interest in finding as much playing time as possible for their deep catching corps.

Left-Handed Pitchers

Right-Handed Pitchers

Infielders

Outfielders

Catchers

  • Zack Collins
  • Yasmani Grandal
  • James McCann

White Sox Reinstate Leury Garcia From 45-Day IL, Designate Alex McRae

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The White Sox have reinstated utilityman Leury Garcia from the 45-day injured list and included him on their postseason roster, the team announced.  Righty Alex McRae was designated for assignment to create roster space.

Garcia hasn’t played since August 10, as a severed thumb ligament required surgery.  The 29-year-old was off to a pretty nice start, hitting .271/.317/.441 over his 63 regular season plate appearances, getting a lot of action at shortstop (due to Tim Anderson’s own IL stint) and second base (before Nick Madrigal was called up to the big leagues).  Garcia has been known more for his versatility than his switch-hitting bat over his eight MLB seasons, and his ability to play all over the diamond will make him a nice bench piece for the Sox during their postseason run.  As a member of the White Sox organization since 2013, this playoff appearance surely feels extra sweet for Garcia after seven losing seasons.

McRae only appeared in two games for Chicago this season, tossing three scoreless innings.  The right-hander signed a minor league deal with the White Sox last winter after spending his first six pro seasons in the Pirates organization.  McRae saw Major League action in both 2018 and 2019, posting a combined 8.18 ERA, 6.5 K/9, and 1.14 K/BB rate over 33 innings for Pittsburgh.

Latest On Eloy Jimenez

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  • White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez expects to be available for the team’s Game 1 playoff showdown in Oakland on Tuesday, Scott Merkin of MLB.com was among those to tweet. Jimenez hasn’t played since Sept. 24 because of a mid-foot sprain, but when he was able to take the field, he was one of Chicago’s most valuable hitters. As a .296/.332/.559 hitter in 226 plate appearances, the 23-year-old Jimenez helped the White Sox to their first playoff berth since 2008.

Gio Gonzalez Being Evaluated For Shoulder Soreness

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  • White Sox lefty Gio Gonzalez exited yesterday’s game with soreness in his left shoulder and will be evaluated further today, tweets Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. Initially signed as a veteran option for the back of the rotation that would allow the Sox to ease their young starters into the mix in 2020, Gonzalez has spent more time in the ’pen than as a starter. His last seven outings have come in relief, and although he has a 2.53 ERA in that time (three runs in 10 2/3 frames), Gonzalez has also issued nine free passes and hit two batters in that stretch. Between that shaky showing and this new bout of shoulder troubles, it’s far from certain that he’ll factor into Chicago’s postseason plans.

MLB Finalizes 16-Team Playoff Bracket

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With a hectic final day of play in the books, the 2020 playoff field is officially set – which visual learners can view here from MLB Network. The defending World Series champion Nationals and their newly-crowned batting champion Juan Soto will watch from home.  The Mets and Phillies turned in disappointing seasons, while the Marlins stunned their NL East counterparts to enter the postseason as the #6 seed in the National League. The Braves weathered a line change in their starting rotation to win their third consecutive NL East title.

Elsewhere in the National League, Dodgers are the team to beat, while the Padres are the team to watch. The Rockies and Diamondbacks will face some hard questions in the offseason after disappointing years, while the Giants exceeded expectations but narrowly missed the postseason.

The Central makes up half the playoff field in the National League with everyone but the Pirates continuing into MLB’s second season. The Cubs took home their third division title in five seasons behind stellar years from Yu Darvish and Kyle Hendricks, but it was a difficult season for many of their core offensive players. They were also the only team in the majors to go the entire season without a single player testing positive for COVID-19, per NBC Sports Chicago and others. The Cardinals will be the #5 seed after playing two fewer games than the rest of the league, Trevor Bauer led the Reds back to the postseason by winning the NL ERA title (in a free agent year no less), and the Brewers backed into the NL’s #8 seed without ever being above .500 in 2020.

In the American League, small markets had themselves a year. The A’s took the AL West back from the defending AL champion Astros. Speaking of, Houston finished a tumultuous year without their ace Justin Verlander. Manager Dusty Baker will lead his fifth different team to the postseason, this one joining the Brewers as one of two under-.500 teams to reach the postseason. The Angels will reboot after firing their GM earlier today, while the Rangers and Mariners continue their rebuilds.

The Rays, meanwhile, won the AL East for the first time in a decade and they’re the top seed in the American League. The Yankees settle for second place and the Blue Jays arrive to the postseason a little earlier than expected as the AL’s #8 seed. The Red Sox took an expected step back, while the Orioles performed better than expected, staying in the playoff hunt for most of the season.

The Twins lost in extras today, but they nonetheless secured their second consecutive AL Central title. Shane Bieber put up a potentially MVP season to get the Indians back to the playoffs. The White Sox arrived in a major way led by Tim Anderson and Jose Abreu. Only a late season slide kept them from a division crown. They’ll head to Oakland as the #7 seed. The Tigers debuted a number of players they hope will be a part of their next competitive team, while the Royals said goodbye to a franchise icon in Alex Gordon’s final season.

It was a short and bizarre season, but the playoffs – while expanded – aren’t going to be all that different from most years. There will be neutral sites and a wild card round of 3-game series, and playoff bubbles, but once the field is pared down to eight, it’s more or less business as usual for the postseason. It should be an exciting month of October.

Here’s the final field of 16:

National League

(8) Brewers at (1) Dodgers

(5) Cardinals at (4) Padres

(6) Marlins at (3) Cubs

(7) Reds at (2) Braves

American League

(8) Blue Jays at (1) Rays

(5) Yankees at (4) Indians

(6) Astros at (3) Twins

(7) White Sox at (2) A’s

The playoffs begin on Tuesday, September 29.

MLB Announces Suspensions For Jimmy Cordero, Rick Renteria

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6:38PM: Cordero is appealing his suspension, as per several reporters (including Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times).

4:39PM: Major League Baseball has handed down a pair of suspensions arising out of last night’s game between Chicago’s crosstown rivals. White Sox reliever Jimmy Cordero has been suspended three games, while Sox manager Rick Renteria was tagged with a one-game ban.

MLB determined that Cordero intentionally hit Cubs’ catcher Willson Contreras with a pitch in the seventh inning last night. Earlier in the game, Contreras flipped his bat after hitting a home run off Dylan Cease. Cordero, Renteria and pitching coach Don Cooper were all ejected in the aftermath of the HBP. Cooper received an undisclosed fine for his actions, MLB added. Renteria will serve his suspension in tonight’s game against the Cubs.

Cordero’s suspension isn’t expected to affect his availability for the postseason, hears James Fegan of the Athletic (Twitter link). Of course, it’s not clear the 28-year-old Cordero should be a big part of the White Sox’s postseason roster regardless. He’s got a 5.61 ERA with a mediocre 17.8% strikeout rate this season.

Eloy Jimenez Will Miss Time With Mid-Foot Sprain

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White Sox left fielder Eloy Jimenez suffered a mid-foot sprain on Thursday, and the club doesn’t expect to have him for its season-ending series against the Cubs, manager Rick Renteria told Scott Merkin of MLB.com and other reporters. It’s unknown whether an early playoff return is in jeopardy for Jimenez, who has helped the White Sox to a 34-23 record and a postseason berth with his stellar offensive output. The 23-year-old’s regular season concluded with a .296/.332/.559 line and 14 home runs in 226 trips to the plate.

Mariners Claim Ian Hamilton

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The Mariners have claimed right-hander Ian Hamilton off waivers from the White Sox, per an announcement from Seattle. The White Sox designated Hamilton for assignment Sept. 18.

Thanks in part to shoulder problems, the 25-year-old Hamilton – who attended high school and college in Washington state – hasn’t taken the mound since Aug. 11. So far this season, he has thrown four innings of two-run ball with five walks against four strikeouts. In all, between this season and his debut in 2018, Hamilton has tossed 12 frames, given up seven runs (six earned), and totaled nine strikeouts against seven walks. The former 11th-round pick (2016) didn’t pitch at all in the majors last season on account of shoulder and jaw injuries.

While his MLB career hasn’t gone that well so far, there’s little harm in taking a chance on Hamilton from the Mariners’ perspective. After all, Hamilton remains a promising flamethrower who was dominant at the Triple-A level as recently as 2018. That year, Hamilton put up a 1.71 ERA/2.76 FIP and notched 9.57 K/9, 1.37 BB/9 and a 46.8 percent groundball rate in 26 1/3 innings.

White Sox Designate Steve Cishek, Ross Detwiler For Assignment

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The White Sox on Thursday announced that they’ve designated veteran right-hander Steve Cishek and lefty Ross Detwiler for assignment. Their spots on the active and 40-man rosters will go to lefties Aaron Bummer and Carlos Rodon, who have been reinstated from the 45-day injured list.

Cishek, 34, inked a one-year, $6MM deal with the ChiSox this past winter — a pact that contained a $5.25MM salary and a $750K buyout on a $6.75MM club option for 2021 that clearly will not be picked up. Cishek’s overall numbers with the South Siders aren’t great — a 5.40ERA and 21-to-9 K/BB ratio in 20 innings — but he’s pitched pretty well since an awful start to the year. Over his past dozen outings, he’s pitched 11 2/3 innings while allowing four runs on 10 hits and five walks with 14 punchouts.

Recent uptick notwithstanding, the Sox feel that both Bummer and Rodon represent better postseason options, it seems. With four days of the regular season left, this move seems likely to put an end to Cishek’s 2020 campaign, although it’s technically feasible that he could be quickly outrighted to the Sox’ alternate site and selected back to the roster in the event of an injury.

Detwiler, 34, was an early surprise for the Sox, rattling off 12 1/3 shutout frames across his first nine appearances of the season. The well-traveled southpaw punched out 10 hitters and walked none in that time, although the complete absence of and a .138 BABIP each looked quite unsustainable. Detwiler has yielded seven runs (only five earned) on eight hits and five walks in the 7 1/3 subsequent innings — with two of those hits clearing the fence for home runs. He carries a sharp 3.20 ERA and 3.89 FIP on the season as a whole, but that’s been his only real success at the MLB level since 2014.

Both Bummer and Rodon will join the bullpen for a Sox club that has lost its grip on the AL Central lead, now sitting a half game back of a Twins team it topped thrice in last week’s best-of-four series. Healthy versions of Bummer and Rodon would surely help their cause. The former established himself as a breakout bullpen star for the Sox just last year, firing 67 2/3 frames of 2.13 ERA ball with a 60-to-24 K/BB ratio. That showing earned him a five-year, $16MM contract extension with a pair of club options over the winter.

Rodon, the former No. 3 overall draft pick, was once viewed as a foundational piece for the Sox’ rotation but has seen his career slowed by Tommy John surgery and shoulder troubles. Of Rodon’s 95 career appearances at the MLB level, all but three have been starts. However, given the missed time in 2020, it’s unlikely he could be built back up to take a rotation spot. He could conceivably be a multi-inning relief weapon for skipper Rick Renteria in the playoffs, but we’ll first see how he looks in his return to game action over the next four days.

Tim Anderson Day-To-Day With Hamstring Injury

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  • Tim Anderson is suffering from cramps in his right hamstring that may keep him out of a game or two, per James Fegan of The Athletic (via Twitter). His official status is day-to-day, but the White Sox won’t want to be long without their chirpy leadoff hitter. Anderson could be closing in on his second consecutive American League batting title. The 27-year-old shortstop has unexpectedly morphed into an all-around terror at the plate with a triple slash of .366/.401/.611 and a league-leading 43 runs scored. Even limited to a 41-game sample and coming off a batting title, it’s still fairly shocking to see Anderson put up a season that will merit serious MVP consideration. While Southsiders would no doubt love to see Anderson return to bolster his case, the organization’s priority will be to ensure his health for the postseason.
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