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White Sox Place Andrew Vaughn On 10-Day IL

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TODAY: Vaughn was officially sent to the 10-day IL today, with a retroactive May 2 placement. The White Sox called up Danny Mendick to take Vaughn’s spot on the active roster.

MAY 4: The White Sox have been arguably the team most affected by injuries in the first month of the 2022 season, with many of their position players and starting pitchers having missed some time, whether they’ve gone on the injured list or not. These various maladies have dragged them down to an 11-13 start to the season. It appears they’ve taken yet another blow, according to Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times, with Andrew Vaughn likely headed to the injured list before the team opens a series against Boston on Friday.

Vaughn was hit by a pitch on his hand in a game last week and, despite negative X-rays, hasn’t played since. “It’s kind of progressed, but it’s still aching when I swing, real bad,” Vaughn said. “Like it’s kind of blocking me from swinging because of the pain. I feel it all the time.” Injuries to outfielders Eloy Jimenez, AJ Pollock and Luis Robert had opened up some regular playing time for Vaughn and he answered the call by hitting .283/.367/.566 this year, good enough for a 177 wRC+. Unfortunately, that will all have to be put on hold until he can recuperate.

There is at least some good news for the Pale Hose, however, as Van Schouwen also reports that Yoan Moncada is likely joining the team next week. The third baseman has yet to make his season debut due to an oblique strain. With Moncada out, most of the playing time at the hot corner has been going to Jake Burger, who’s hitting .250/.270/.383. That line amounts to a wRC+ of 91, or 9% below league average. Moncada’s wRC+ for his career is 114 and it was 122 last year, meaning he should provide the lineup a boost as long as he can return and produce at his usual level.

The bullpen also should get a reinforcement soon, with Joe Kelly likely making his debut with the White Sox next week. While with the Dodgers last year, the righty was sidelined with a bicep injury. The Sox signed him in the offseason knowing that he was still working his way back from that issue and likely wouldn’t be ready for the start of the season. Since switching from the rotation to the bullpen, Kelly has emerged as a useful fireballer. From 2017 to 2021, he threw 229 innings with a 3.62 ERA, 24.8% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate.

As for the rotation, Johnny Cueto seems ready suit up for the White Sox as well. Signed to a minor league deal in early April, he’s been gradually building up his arm strength with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. After a nice bounceback season with the Giants last year where he threw 114 2/3 innings of 4.08 ERA ball, he signed with the White Sox on a deal that will pay him $4.2MM once he’s selected to the big league club. With Lance Lynn on the shelf for a while, a spot in the rotation opened up for Vince Velasquez, who has a 4.58 ERA through four starts, with strikeout and walk rates roughly in line with his career numbers. The weakest link in the rotation so far, however, has been Dallas Keuchel, who has an 8.40 ERA at the moment, along with a measly 9.8% strikeout rate and 13.4% walk rate. That’s a small sample of just four starts, but it continues a trend that began last year, when the lefty put up a 5.28 ERA and 13.2% strikeout rate. He’s in the last guaranteed year of his three-year, though there is a $20MM club/vesting option for 2023. If Keuchel were to reach 160 innings pitched this year, that would become guaranteed.

Yoan Moncada Begins Rehab Assignment

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The Blue Jays have sent southpaw Tayler Saucedo to the 10-day injured list with right hip discomfort. Taking his roster spot, Bowden Francis has been brought back to the active roster, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com (via Twitter). Francis was only just optioned to Triple-A yesterday. Saucedo was roughed up in 2 2/3 innings of work, yielding four earned runs and six hits, including three home runs.

  • The Blue Jays have a couple of key players that might be coming back soon. Teoscar Hernandez and Hyun Jin Ryu have both returned to baseball activities and could be gearing up for a rehab assignment, per The Athletic’s Kaitlyn McGrath. Ross Stripling has held the line in Ryu’s stead, but the offense could use a jolt of Hernandez’s trademark power.
  • Yoan Moncada is beginning his rehab assignment today, per the lineup card posted by the Charlotte Knights’ Twitter account. An oblique strain has kept Moncada out of the lineup for the entirety of the season thus far. 26-year-old  Jake Burger has been starting games at third in his stead, slashing .260/.275/.420, good for a 105 wRC+ despite walking at just a 1.9% clip.
  • X-rays on Andrew Vaughn’s hand came back negative. He was hit on the hand with a pitch in yesterday’s game. He’s day-to-day for now, per The Athletic’s James Fegan (via Twitter). Vaughn has gotten off to a hot start at the plate, slashing .283/.367/.566 across 60 plate appearances.

Patrick Kivlehan Signs With NPB’s Yakult Swallows

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Infielder/outfielder Patrick Kivlehan has signed with the Yakult Swallows of Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, tweets Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The well-traveled corner bat will be paid $600K and can boost that total via incentives. He’s represented by Pro Agents Inc. and Agency 1.

Kivlehan, 32, has seen action in parts of four big league seasons, most recently appearing in five games with the Padres in 2021. He also played with Team USA during last summer’s Olympics. A fourth-round pick by Seattle back in 2012, Kivlehan has bounced from the Mariners to the Padres, Reds, D-backs and, earlier this year, the White Sox, with whom he opened the season in Triple-A. He logged a career-high 105 games with the 2017 Reds but hit just .208/.304/.399 in 204 plate appearances. All told, he’s a .208/.308/.398 hitter in 250 big league plate appearances.

Tepid track record in the Majors aside, Kivlehan has a solid minor league track record, including a .263/.325/.488 batting line in more than 2200 plate appearances at the Triple-A level. He mashed 32 home runs between the Pirates and Blue Jays’ minor league systems in 2019, slugged 21 long balls in just 91 games with the Padres’ Triple-A club in 2021 and was 5-for-12 with a pair of homers in three games with the ChiSox’ top affiliate this year before this NPB opportunity presented itself.

Jon Jay Announces Retirement

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Veteran outfielder Jon Jay took to Twitter earlier today to announce his retirement after over a decade in the big leagues.

“As a kid I remember watching SportsCenter highlights and imitating my favorite MLB players,” Jay wrote. “It is still surreal to me that I played Major League Baseball. As I officially retire from the game that changed my life, I want to thank everyone who has played a role in getting me here.”

Jon JayJay, 37, was a second round pick of the Cardinals in 2006 and then made his MLB debut in 2010. He immediately hit the ground running with the contact-oriented approach that would be a trademark of his career. He hit .300/.359/.422, walking in 7.4% of his plate appearances and striking out just 15.5% of the time. That production amounted to a 116 wRC+, or 16% above league average. The next year, he put up a similar line of .297/.344/.424, 115 wRC+, helping the Cardinals qualify for the postseason and eventually win the 2011 World Series.

Jay stuck with the Cardinals for the next four seasons, with the team making the postseason in each of them. His production stayed largely consistent until wrist issues started hampering him in 2015. He underwent surgery prior to that season and then struggled at the plate, hitting .210/.306/.257. After that campaign, he was traded to the Padres for Jedd Gyorko.

He was able to bounce back somewhat in 2016, hitting .291/.339/.389 as a Padre, good enough for a wRC+ of 99. He signed with the Cubs for the 2017 season and had another solid season, hitting .296/.374/.375, 101 wRC+. He went into journeyman mode for the next few years, spending time with the Royals, Diamondbacks, White Sox, D-Backs again, and then the Angels last year, with none of those stints lasting more than 84 games.

In all, Jay played in 1201 games in 12 MLB seasons from 2010 to 2021. He will head into retirement with a lifetime .283/.348/.373 batting line, 37 home runs, 185 doubles, 25 triples, 1,087 total hits, 532 runs scored, 341 runs batted in and 55 stolen bases. He was a solid contributor to an excellent run of Cardinals baseball, earning a World Series ring in the process. MLBTR congratulates him on a fine career and wishes him all the best in his future endeavors.

Eloy Jimenez To Miss 6-8 Weeks With Hamstring Strain

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April 26: Jimenez underwent surgery to “repair a torn hamstring tendon behind his right knee,” the White Sox announced. It’s a similar injury to the one incurred by Lynn earlier this year. Jimenez’s estimated timeline remains unchanged; he’s still expected to miss six to eight weeks.

April 24: The White Sox released a statement today in regards to outfielder Eloy Jimenez, who left yesterday’s game with an injury. Jimenez has a right hamstring strain and will be heading to the injured list. While further updates are coming, the statement says that he is expected to miss 6-8 weeks. (Statement relayed by James Fegan of The Athletic.) The club later announced that Jimenez has been placed on the 10-day IL, with Lucas Giolito being reinstated and starting today’s game.

This is yet another blow to a White Sox team that has been pummeled by injuries in the first few weeks of the 2022 season. Lance Lynn, Garrett Crochet, Yoan Moncada and a handful of other players are already on the shelf, with Jimenez now set to join them. Giolito had been a part of that group as well, though the bit of good news is that he has now returned and rejoined the rotation.

The absence of Jimenez will put a dent in the club’s lineup for a second straight season. Last year, a ruptured left pectoral tendon kept him out of action beyond the halfway point of the season. He eventually returned to play 55 games down the stretch, but he only hit at around a league average level with a line of .249/.303/.437, 101 wRC+. That was certainly a few notches below his 2019-2020 output of .276/.321/.527, 122 wRC+, though perhaps understandable given the long layoff.

This year, he was off to a slow start, hitting .222/.256/.333, 74 wRC+. That’s a tiny sample of just 11 games and he surely would have improved it as time went on, but he will now have to sit on the injured list for around two months, give or take, depending on what further testing reveals. Once healthy, he will have to ramp back up and get back into game shape, just like last year.

The White Sox will now have an awkward situation on their hands for their outfield picture, as center fielder Luis Robert has also been dealing with an injury. Although he hasn’t been placed on the injured list, Robert’s groin injury has kept him out of the lineup for the past two games. AJ Pollock was just activated from the injured list on Friday after missing time with a strained hamstring. Pollock is starting in right field today, with Andrew Vaughan in left and Adam Haseley in center. Gavin Sheets and Adam Engel will likely be in the mix for some outfield time as well, with Robert eventually getting folded back in as he heals.

Eloy Jimenez Leaves Game With Hamstring Injury

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9:56PM: The “initial diagnosis” on Jimenez is a hamstring tear or strain, Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweets.

7:07PM: Jimenez’s injury is thought to be “significant,” manager Tony La Russa told The Athletic’s James Fegan and other reporters.  While more testing is taking place, the team believes for now that Jimenez won’t miss the rest of the season, and this absence won’t be as long as his four-month IL stint following his pectoral surgery last year.

4:03PM: White Sox outfielder Eloy Jimenez left today’s game with what the team described as right hamstring soreness.  While trying to beat out a grounder in the second inning, Jimenez seemingly took a bad step after hitting first base and had to lay down on the grass.  A cart was required to take Jimenez off the field.

Considering how ominous the situation looked, “only” a sore hamstring would seem to represent a best-case scenario for Jimenez and the team, though the outfielder is continuing to undergo more tests.  It would certainly seem like Jimenez will miss at least the next couple of games for rest and evaluation purposes, and a trip to the injured list seems like a possibility.

Losing Jimenez would represent yet another major absence in what has already been an injury-riddled season for the White Sox.  While most of the injuries have come on the pitching side, Yoan Moncada (oblique strain) and Yermin Mercedes (hamate surgery) have yet to play in 2022, and AJ Pollock only just returned from a hamstring injury of his own.  Luis Robert and Josh Harrison have also recently missed time, leaving the Sox particularly shorthanded for this weekend’s series against the Twins.

Jimenez is no stranger to the IL, as he played only 55 games in 2021 due to a ruptured left pectoral tendon that delayed his season debut until July 26.  Between this layoff and some other minor injuries, it isn’t surprising that Jimenez hit a modest .249/.303/.437 over 231 plate appearances last season.  While the White Sox were still able to win the AL Central even without Jimenez (and Robert) for big portions of 2021, all of this year’s injuries have contributed to Chicago’s 6-7 record heading into play today.

AL Central Notes: Guardians, Plesac, Quantrill, Tully, White Sox, Anderson

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White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson has been served a one-game suspension for making an obscene gesture towards the fans at Progressive Field, per Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com (via Twitter). Anderson apologized for the gesture. He’s appealing as well, so the suspension will not occur right away. Let’s stay in Cleveland for a few other updates…

  • The Athletic’s Zack Meisel thinks the Guardians are probably done handing out extensions for now. Shane Bieber is the big name remaining without an extension, with Franmil Reyes often mentioned as another player on that hypothetical list, despite his slow start to the season. Both Bieber and Reyes are set to enter free agency following the 2024 season.
  • On another payroll note, starter Zach Plesac is making $2MM this season, despite still being a year shy of arbitration. The contract is the result of a league and union decision stemming from the Guardians’ treatment of Plesac after he violated the team’s COVID protocols in 2020. The Guardians can certainly afford the small bump in payroll, as they’re still well under $80MM in terms of total contributions for the season.
  • Cal Quantrill has been cleared to return from the COVID-19 list and he will start today’s ballgame, per Joe Trezza of MLB.com (via Twitter). Tanner Tully will head back to Triple-A to make room on the active roster, notes Meisel (via Twitter). Tully tossed two innings in last night’s loss, serving up one earned run on two hits and a walk.

Offseason In Review: Chicago White Sox

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The White Sox filled their right field vacancy by making a long-awaited Craig Kimbrel trade, otherwise focusing on signing Kimbrel’s replacements rather than compensating for the departure of Carlos Rodon.

Major League Signings

Options Exercised

Trades and Claims

Notable Minor League Signings

Extensions

  • None

Notable Losses

After a disappointing ALDS loss to the Astros, the White Sox kicked off their offseason by exercising their hefty $16MM option on reliever Craig Kimbrel.  The righty had struggled after a crosstown trade in which the Sox paid the high price of Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer.  The White Sox seemed intent on trading Kimbrel all along, and at the time their choice on the option seemed related to having given up Madrigal for him.  As I wrote in December, “[White Sox GM Rick] Hahn has gambled that whatever he gets back will be better than just paying the $1MM buyout on Kimbrel and spending the money in free agency.”

At the time it needed to be made, the Kimbrel decision involved some financial risk for a club that has never been willing to run a payroll near the first competitive balance tax threshold.  Days later, in what seemed a related choice payroll-wise, the White Sox declined to issue a one-year, $18.4MM qualifying offer to lefty Carlos Rodon.

Especially with the benefit of hindsight that the White Sox would make no major commitments to their rotation, the Rodon decision must be read as the club thinking that the southpaw accepting the qualifying offer would have been a bad thing.  It’s hard to say whether Rodon would have accepted.  He was one of the game’s best pitchers through mid-July last year, but lost velocity and was handled carefully after that due to shoulder issues.  Rodon went on to sign a two-year, $44MM deal after the lockout with the Giants that allows him to opt out after the first year if he reaches 110 innings.  Rodon’s market would have been different if he had a qualifying offer attached, due to draft pick forfeiture.

In granting righty Lance Lynn a two-year, $38MM extension last July – similar to the contract Rodon would eventually sign – it might be that the White Sox felt they could choose only one of their 2021 aces.  That’s only true in that owner Jerry Reinsdorf decided not to set a payroll that would accommodate both.  So, the White Sox received no compensation for Rodon’s departure, while Lynn had knee surgery earlier this month and isn’t expected to make his season debut before his 35th birthday on May 12th.  The second half of the season will determine whether the White Sox made the right bet: Lynn will be a big factor in Chicago’s rotation, and we’ll learn whether Rodon holds up all year.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the White Sox showed “strong interest” in Justin Verlander before he reached an agreement to re-sign with the Astros on November 17th.  That would’ve been a reasonable way to fill Rodon’s shoes, but competition for Verlander was fierce and the Astros were at the top of his list.  Most other top free agent starting pitchers signed prior to the lockout as well, and the White Sox weren’t rumored to be interested in them.

Otherwise, the White Sox made a pair of free agent strikes before the December 2 lockout.  They gave out a pair of decent-sized three-year deals, adding setup man Kendall Graveman and retaining super-utility man Leury Garcia.  The Graveman signing laid groundwork for the eventual Kimbrel trade, ensuring the team would remain strong in the late innings behind top closer Liam Hendriks.  Garcia garnered a larger commitment than expected, but would end up as part of the team’s second base solution.

Rick Hahn’s first post-lockout move was to finish off that second base combo with the signing of Josh Harrison.  Through nine games of the season, manager Tony La Russa has split second base time evenly between Garcia and Harrison.  Harrison is a righty batter with a modest platoon split, with a 113 wRC+ against southpaws from 2020-21.  Garcia, a switch-hitter, is also better against lefties.  From 2019-21, Garcia and Harrison sport identical 83 wRC+ marks against right-handed pitching.  So for the 70% of the time a righty pitcher is on the hill, the White Sox figure to have a fairly easy out coming from the second base position in the lineup.

On the same day as the Harrison signing, the White Sox somewhat surprisingly moved to further bolster their bullpen with the signing of Joe Kelly.  Not only was the team surprising given Chicago’s existing bullpen commitments, but Kelly had exited Game 5 of the NLCS with biceps tightness and still secured a strong commitment.  His White Sox debut has been delayed by at least a couple of weeks due to the injury.  When Kelly is healthy, he, Graveman, and Aaron Bummer can form a very strong bridge to Hendriks.

After the lockout, the White Sox added only back-end starting pitchers to cover for the loss of Rodon and ineffectiveness of Dallas Keuchel, as Lynn had not yet gotten injured.  Vince Velasquez, 29, has longstanding control issues that pitching coach Ethan Katz will attempt to solve.  Johnny Cueto, meanwhile, can be a source of veteran innings.  The White Sox can still plan a hopeful playoff rotation of Lucas Giolito, Lynn, Dylan Cease, and Michael Kopech.  While their depth to cover April injuries to Lynn and Giolito isn’t impressive, if everyone is healthy this will be a fearsome rotation.

The White Sox made efforts to trade for Sean Manaea or Frankie Montas, and Montas remains available.  According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Sox “nearly acquired” Manaea from the A’s before the Padres closed the deal.  Nightengale suggests the A’s have sought Andrew Vaughn from the White Sox for Montas.  If nothing else, these rumors suggest the White Sox know they’re a bit short on pitching depth, especially with Keuchel’s struggles last year and Kopech’s likely innings limit.

On April 1st, the White Sox finally found a match for Kimbrel, sending him to the Dodgers for AJ Pollock.  This was a strong move for the White Sox, vindicating their decision to exercise Kimbrel’s option.  In the 34-year-old Pollock, the White Sox effectively fill their right field vacancy with a player who posted a 135 wRC+ over 632 plate appearances from 2020-21.  Pollock’s injury history suggests he’s good for about 115 games per year, so the Sox will be covering his absences with Adam Engel and Vaughn.  The White Sox can’t exactly time when Pollock will get hurt, but the goal will be to have him active for the playoffs.  The Sox also completed a smaller swap with the Collins-McGuire deal, improving their defense at the backup catcher position.

With Yasmani Grandal behind the plate, Jose Abreu at first base, Tim Anderson at shortstop, Yoan Moncada at third, Eloy Jimenez in left, and Luis Robert in center, the White Sox came into the offseason with a strong core of hitters.  Pollock only deepens that mix.  Vaughn, the third overall draft pick in 2019, should bounce around between the outfield corners, first base, and DH depending on the team’s needs.  Anderson is under team control through 2024, Moncada through ’25, Jimenez and Vaughn through ’26, and Robert through ’27.

In the aggregate, the White Sox didn’t necessarily do much to improve upon last year’s 93-win team.  When Pollock is healthy, they’ll clearly be better in right field, and the team won’t have to play Vaughn at an outfield corner.  Second base is mostly a wash.  They covered the losses of Kimbrel and Ryan Tepera with Graveman and Kelly, but also lost Garrett Crochet to Tommy John surgery.  The rotation is worse off for the loss of Rodon, but Kopech and/or a future trade might fill much of that void.  But maybe this was enough – the White Sox remain the clear favorite in the AL Central, and Tony La Russa’s crew is a credible threat to win the World Series in 2022.

AL Notes: Red Sox, Houck, Angels, Rendon, White Sox, Kelly

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Tanner Houck indicated that he is not vaccinated against COVID-19, and therefore, he will be unable to travel to Toronto to make his scheduled start later this month, per Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe. Players do not have to be vaccinated, but any traveler heading into Canada does. Houck is scheduled to pitch against the Blue Jays in Boston on Thursday, putting him in line to start in Toronto the following Tuesday (April 26). The Red Sox will have to shift their rotation around, potentially pushing Houck’s next start to the following series in Baltimore. This shouldn’t be a big issue for Boston, as the club won’t play in Toronto again until a 3-game set at the end of June. They also play in Toronto for three of the season’s final six games. So at the end of the year this could be something that Boston has to think about, but that’s a problem for another day.

  • Anthony Rendon took his day of rest today, sitting out the Sunday game for the second consecutive week. This could be a pattern for Rendon, at least early in the season, per The Athletic’s Sam Blum (via Twitter). Manager Joe Maddon is cognizant of the fact that, despite it being a new season, Rendon is still coming off surgery. Given the money that Rendon is owed over the next five seasons, it certainly makes sense to value Rendon’s long-term health. The All-Star third baseman turns 32 in June.
  • Joe Kelly is probably looking at an early May return to the active roster, if all goes well. He threw bullpen sessions today and looked good, but the club is still likely targeting late April for a rehab assignment to Charlotte, per The Athletic’s James Fegan (via Twitter). Kelly has yet to make his Southside debut, having begun the season on the injured list.

White Sox, Scott Blewett Agree To Minor League Deal

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The White Sox have agreed to a minor league contract with right-hander Scott Blewett, according to the club’s transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to Double-A Birmingham.

Blewett has spent his entire career in the AL Central, but this’ll be his second organization. He entered pro ball as a second-round pick of the Royals in 2014. Despite progressing up the minor league ladder fairly slowly, he was placed among Baseball America’s top 30 Kansas City prospects every season between 2015-19 and again heading into 2021. BA wrote early in his career that Blewett could develop into a mid-rotation starter, but struggles against high minors hitters eventually changed his projection to that of a depth starter or long relief option.

The New York native got to the big leagues for the first time in 2020, making a pair of relief appearances. He also pitched in three games last year, tossing eight innings of three-run ball over his first five MLB outings. Blewett worked solely as a reliever in the majors, but he started 10 of 23 games with Triple-A Omaha last season. In 69 innings with the Storm Chasers, he posted a 6.39 ERA with a below-average 20.1% strikeout rate. He allowed 19 home runs, an untenable 2.48 longballs per nine innings.

The Royals outrighted Blewett off their 40-man roster last September, at which point he elected minor league free agency. The 26-year-old has yet to find his stride even at the Triple-A level, but he has a solid track record of throwing strikes up through Double-A and can work as either a starter or multi-inning reliever. Blewett will hope a change of scenery can allow him to miss a few more bats and tamp down on homers to earn another crack in the big leagues.

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