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Drew Anderson

White Sox Designate Drew Anderson

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The White Sox designated righty Drew Anderson for assignment, as per a team announcement.  Jose Ruiz, another right-hander, has been called up from the alternate training site to take Anderson’s roster spot.

Anderson signed a minor league deal with Chicago during the offseason and only had his contract selected prior to Saturday’s game.  Unfortunately for Anderson, his 2020 debut was a nightmare — two home runs and six total earned runs allowed over 1 1/3 innings against the Indians.  It will make for a pretty ignominious White Sox tenure if Anderson is claimed or released, though he could also simply be outrighted back to the minor league camp if he passes through the DFA period.  The 26-year-old appeared in parts of the 2017-19 seasons with the Phillies, posting a 7.71 ERA over 21 innings.

Ruiz has had a similarly brief three-year tenure in the majors, though 40 of his 45 1/3 career innings from 2017-19 came last season with the White Sox.  Ruiz posted a 5.63 ERA, 1.46 K/BB rate, and 7.9 K/9 over those 40 frames.  Pitching exclusively as a reliever over 135 career minor league innings with the Padres and White Sox, the hard-throwing Ruiz has a 3.67 ERA, 10.1 K/9, and 2.48 K/BB rate.

White Sox Place Aaron Bummer On 10-Day IL, Promote Zack Burdi

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The White Sox placed left-hander Aaron Bummer on the 10-day injured list due to a left biceps strain, the team announced.  Right-hander Brady Lail was also designated for assignment, and the two open Major League roster spots will be filled by right-handers Zack Burdi and Drew Anderson.  Burdi is being called up from the club’s minor league training site, while Anderson had his contract purchased.

Bummer suffered the injury in last night’s game, departing during an at-bat against Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez.  The seriousness of the biceps problem isn’t yet known, though any absence for Bummer counts as a problem for the White Sox given the southpaw’s increasing prominence in the bullpen.  After posting a 4.36 ERA over 53 2/3 innings during the 2017-18 seasons, Bummer broke out with a 2.13 ERA, 2.50 K/BB rate, 8.0 K/9, and a whopping 72.1% grounder rate over 67 2/3 innings in 2019.  Only Zack Britton had a higher ground-ball rate among all pitchers who threw at least 60 innings last season.

In a nod to their belief in Bummer’s work, the White Sox signed him to a contract extension in February that will pay Bummer at least $16MM in guaranteed money through the 2024 season.  If two club options are exercised, Bummer will be in Chicago through 2026 for a total of $29.5MM — not a bad payday for a rather unheralded 19th-round pick from the 2014 draft.

Burdi, meanwhile, had a much higher profile as the 26th overall pick over the 2016 draft, though the righty’s progress was stalled by Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for much of the 2017 and 2018 seasons.  If that wasn’t enough, a ligament tear in his patella prematurely ended Burdi’s 2019 campaign after just 22 2/3 innings.  All told, Burdi has only 100 2/3 professional innings under his belt, and only 16 of them at the Triple-A level.

However, those Triple-A innings came back in 2016, indicating that the White Sox were planning on fast-tracking him to their big league bullpen in pretty short order.  Working almost exclusively as a reliever, Burdi has a 4.31 ERA, 2.53 K/BB rate, and a 12.5 K/9 over his minor league career, and is the owner of a blazing fastball that regularly sits in the high 90’s and has often touched the 100mph plateau.  Burdi’s arsenal suggests a possible future as Chicago’s closer, if he can stay healthy and translate his velocity into success against big league hitters.

Lail has four Major League innings to his name over the last two seasons, including a single outing for the Sox this season that saw him toss 1 1/3 frames of work in Thursday’s 8-3 loss to the Brewers.  An 18th-round pick for the Yankees in 2012, Lail has mostly worked as a reliever in the minors over the last two seasons, and has an overall 3.97 ERA, 2.64 K/BB rate, and 7.0 K/9 over 741 career minor league frames.  The DFA is an unfortunate early birthday for Lail, who turns 27 tomorrow.

Anderson will make his White Sox debut after joining the club on a minors deal last winter.  He posted a 7.71 ERA over 21 innings with the Phillies over the 2017-19 seasons, and a 3.52 ERA, 2.48 K/BB, and 7.7 K/9 in 486 innings in Philadelphia’s farm system.  Anderson has started 94 of his 101 career games in the minors but only started once at the big league level, so the White Sox will likely deploy him out of the bullpen barring a rotation emergency.

White Sox Sign Adalberto Mejia, Drew Anderson, Matt Skole

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The White Sox announced a series of minor league signings Tuesday, including the yet-unreported additions of left-hander Adalberto Mejia, right-hander Drew Anderson, corner infielder Matt Skole and outfielder Jaycob Brugman. They’ll all be in Major League camp this spring.

Mejia, formerly of the Twins, Angels and Cardinals, was a top-100 prospect at his best but has yet to put things together at the game’s top level. Now 26 years old, Mejia was unscored upon in 9 1/3 minor league innings across multiple organizations this year but was hit hard in the Majors, logging a 6.61 ERA (4.97 FIP, 5.98 xFIP) with an ugly 30-to-21 K/BB ratio in 31 1/3 innings.

Mejia did make 21 respectable starts for the Twins in 2017 (4.50 ERA, 7.8 K/9, 4.0 BB/9) at just 24 years of age, creating some optimism that he could settle in as the fourth starter he’d been projected as in the upper minors. But blister issues and a left wrist injury shortened Mejia’s 2018 season, and he wasn’t able to regain his footing in 2019. The White Sox don’t look to have room for him in the rotation, but he could provide depth in Triple-A or look to carve out a bullpen spot.

Anderson, 25, enjoyed solid numbers in Double-A and Triple-A in 2017-18 but hasn’t found success in the big leagues yet. He’s thrown 21 innings for the Phillies but been hammered for 18 earned runs on 29 hits and nine walks with 19 strikeouts. He’s only yielded one home run in that time, but he’s been plagued by a sky-high .389 BABIP in the Majors. Anderson notched a combined 3.72 ERA in 111 1/3 innings in Triple-A from 2017-18 but slumped to a 5.77 mark in 48 1/3 frames there in 2019.

The 30-year-old Skole appeared in 27 games for the White Sox in 2019, hitting .208/.275/.236 in 80 plate appearances. He posted a .248/.384/.497 batting line with 21 long balls in Triple-A Charlotte this past season — his second in the White Sox organization. Skole has a generally productive track record throughout the minors thanks largely to his persistent knack for drawing walks.

Brugman, 28, hasn’t appeared in the big leagues since his 2017 debut with the A’s, when he batted .266/.346/.343 in 162 plate appearances. He’s been with the Orioles and Mariners since that time, including a terrific .283/.363/.601 slash in 331 plate appearances with Seattle’s Triple-A club in 2019. Brugman, though, has never shown that type of power in the past, so those numbers should be taken with a grain of salt considering the juiced ball in Triple-A this past season; the outfielder’s 24 homers in 2019 matched his combined total from 2016-18. Brugman has long had solid walk rates, though, and he’s a solid defender who can play all three outfield spots even though he’s consistently posted below-average power numbers excluding the 2019 surge.

Phillies Release Drew Anderson

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The Phillies announced today that they have released right-hander Drew Anderson after he cleared waivers. He had been designated for assignment recently.

Anderson, a 25th-round pick in 2012, has had success at times as a starter in the upper minors. But he has struggled in limited MLB action, coughing up 18 earned runs on 29 hits in 21 total frames.

It has been a rough overall campaign for Anderson, who has been sidelined since late June and was ineffective before that. Over 11 starts at the Triple-A level, he managed only a 5.77 ERA with 7.4 K/9 against 5.0 BB/9.

Phillies Announce Roster Moves

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5:26PM: In other roster moves, the Phillies activated Jay Bruce from the 10-day injured list and called up left-hander Cole Irvin from Triple-A.  The club also selected the contracts of infielder Phil Gosselin, righty Nick Vincent, and catcher Deivy Grullon from Triple-A.  This will mark the 23-year-old Grullon’s first taste of MLB action, after a seven-year stint in Philadelphia’s minor league system that includes an impressive .283/.354/.496 slash line over 457 Triple-A plate appearances this season.

3:38PM: The Phillies have designated right-handed pitcher Drew Anderson for assignment, according to an official team announcement. He’ll be dropped from the team’s 40-man roster, along with Adam Morgan and Jerad Eickhoff, who were transferred to the 60-day injured list.

The 25-year-old Anderson has only managed to get into two games for the Phillies this year, tossing six innings in his third big-league season. It hasn’t been a promising showing for Anderson, who surrendered five runs in those six innings, walking as many batters as he struck out. Unfortunately, those numbers represented a continuation of his struggles in his first two trials in Philadelphia. For his career, Anderson is sporting an unsightly 7.71 ERA over 21 innings of work.

What’s more, the minor-league numbers for Anderson haven’t been much more encouraging. While he’s excelled at Double-A, it seems that Triple-A has represented a significant barrier; across three seasons at the level, Anderson owns a 4.34 ERA while striking out only 7.4 batters per nine innings. If he clears waivers, he could accept an outright assignment and remain within the Philly organization — if he isn’t released. Otherwise, another team could take a chance on him and hope to turn him into a viable reliever.

David Robertson Diagnosed With Flexor Strain

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April 16: Robertson has been diagnosed with a Grade 1 flexor strain, manager Gabe Kapler said following tonight’s game (Twitter link via the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Matt Breen). He’ll be shut down from throwing for the next couple of days before being reevaluated.

April 15: The Phillies announced Monday that they’ve placed right-hander David Robertson on the 10-day injured list due to soreness in his right elbow. Fellow righty Drew Anderson was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley in his place. Robertson tells reporters that he’s had some on-and-off forearm discomfort and is set to receive an MRI tomorrow, though he’s not overly concerned about the issue at the moment (Twitter link via Philly.com’s Scott Lauber).

Robertson, 34, signed a two-year contract worth a guaranteed $23MM this winter and has struggled through a slow start to the season. The veteran righty allowed runs in each of his first three appearances with his new club and, overall, has yielded a total of four runs on eight hits and six walks with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings of relief. Robertson has thrown just 58 percent of his pitches for strikes in that small sample of innings — a departure from recent seasons when his overall strike rate has sat at 63 percent or better.

Notably, this is the first trip time in his career that Robertson has ever missed time due to an arm injury. He spent about two weeks on the shelf due to a groin strain in 2014 and missed a bit more than three weeks due to an oblique injury in 2012, but he came to the Phillies with a pristine track record in terms of arm health.

With Robertson sidelined for the time being, Anderson will get a look for a third consecutive season. The 25-year-old hasn’t found much success in the big leagues yet but also hasn’t had much of an opportunity; in 15 Major League frames, he’s surrendered 13 runs on 23 hits with a more impressive 13-to-3 K/BB ratio. Anderson has spent the vast majority of his career as a starter and owns a 3.90 ERA with 7.3 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 in 115 1/3 innings (21 starts) at the Triple-A level.

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