Rays’ Steven Wilson To Begin Season On Injured List
Steven Wilson‘s ongoing back problems will prevent the right-hander from being part of the Rays’ Opening Day roster, manager Kevin Cash told reporters (including Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times). According to the Rays’ official injury update page, Wilson received an injection in his back, and it will be at least another week before he takes the mound.
While there isn’t yet any indication that the injury is overly serious, Wilson has yet to pitch during Spring Training, so he’ll need to make up for lost time in rehab work once he has recovered. An absence of longer than the 15-day minimum on the injured list certainly seems possible, though obviously such timeline projections won’t be known until later in March.
This isn’t the first time Wilson has dealt with a bad back, as a pair of back strains cost him close to two and a half months of the 2024 season when Wilson was pitching with the White Sox. The second of those back strains wound up prematurely ending Wilson’s season in mid-August, though it could be that he was shut down in part because there was no reason to hurry back for the end of Chicago’s record 121-loss season.
It’s a tough start to Wilson’s Rays tenure, as Tampa Bay just acquired the reliever as part of a four-player trade with the White Sox in November. Wilson has generally posted solid results over his four MLB seasons (apart from a 5.71 ERA over 34 2/3 innings during his injury-riddled 2024 campaign), including a 3.42 ERA over 55 1/3 innings out of the Sox bullpen last year. The sweeper is Wilson’s plus pitch and he induces a lot of soft contact, even though both his walk and strikeout rates were below average last season.
AL East Notes: Westburg, Yankees, Rays
Orioles third baseman Jordan Westburg has been no stranger to injuries over the first few years of his time in the majors, and his latest ailments are a partially-torn UCL and oblique soreness. The oblique issue appears to be fairly minor, but he’s received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his elbow in hopes of rehabbing his UCL and will be out until at least May due to the issue. Setbacks of this sort have become all too common for Westburg in recent years. Since making his big league debut in 2023, he’s missed time due to a broken hand, a sprained ankle, a strained hamstring, and an index finger sprain.
When on the field, there’s no question that Westburg has proven to be one of the Orioles’ most talented young players. An All-Star in 2024, Westburg is a career .264/.312/.456 hitter in just over 1,000 career plate appearances and can play capable defense at both second and third base. The .269/.317/.497 slash line Westburg posted in 101 games prior to the aforementioned broken hand during the 2024 season is even more impressive and shows that the 27-year-old has the potential to be a star for Baltimore when he’s healthy enough to take the field at full strength.
Those times have been increasingly uncommon over the past few years, however, and when asked about it by Orioles reporters Westburg seemed frustrated. He told MASN’s Roch Kubatko that he doesn’t know when he’ll be able to play again after his latest PRP injection, and Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun relays that Westburg admitted the constant injuries have taken a mental toll on him.
“I’d like to sit here and say, ‘extremely confident,’ but some of this wears on you mentally,” Westburg said (as relayed by Weyrich) when asked about his ability to stay healthy and be an everyday player for the Orioles. “So, there are doubts, but like I said, I’m going to do my best to kind of see what avenues that I can go down to maybe help bulletproof my body a little bit more. I don’t know if there’s a way to do that, but I’m going to try.”
While Westburg looks to push through the obstacles currently standing between him and a return to the field, the Orioles will be looking to open the season without either him or second baseman Jackson Holliday. That could open the door for Coby Mayo to return to third base and recent trade acquisition Blaze Alexander to see time at they keystone. Utility man Jeremiah Jackson and third baseman Bryan Ramos are among the other players currently on the 40-man roster who could compete for additional time on the infield while Westburg and Holliday are unavailable.
More from around the AL East…
- The Yankees are bolstering their international scouting department with the addition of longtime Cubs front office member Nao Masamoto, according to a report from Patrick Mooney and Brendan Kuty of The Athletic. The pair note that Masamoto has been instrumental to the Cubs’ recruitment efforts with players coming over from Nippon Professional Baseball and their ability to provide a smooth transition for the players (like Seiya Suzuki and Shota Imanaga) who do wind up signing with them. Chicago has emerged as a destination for Japanese talent during Masamoto’s tenure with the club, while the Yankees have struggled to court players like Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki in recent years. While they were once a top choice for NPB talent themselves, they haven’t rostered a Japanese player since Masahiro Tanaka departed MLB following the 2020 season.
- A pair of Rays players are facing some restrictions as Spring Training games get underway. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reported recently that right-hander Steven Wilson, who Tampa acquired from the White Sox in a trade during the offseason, has been slowed by a back injury entering camp. Wilson enjoyed a solid season with Chicago last year where he pitched to a 3.42 ERA across 59 appearances despite middling peripherals. Also sidelined at the moment is shortstop Taylor Walls, who Topkin notes was scratched from the Rays’ lineup due to oblique tightness. That sounds worrisome for Tampa, but the club has fortunately described Walls’ removal from today’s lineup as purely precautionary. Carson Williams would likely be the next man up to handle shortstop if Walls were sidelined during the regular season.
Rays, White Sox Complete Four-Player Trade
The Rays and White Sox announced a four-player trade sending middle reliever Steven Wilson and swingman Yoendrys Gómez to Tampa Bay for outfielder Everson Pereira and minor league infielder Tanner Murray.
Wilson is the most established of the group. The 31-year-old righty landed in Chicago as part of the Dylan Cease trade during the 2023-24 offseason. Wilson had posted a 3.48 ERA over his first two MLB seasons with the Padres. His numbers tanked during his first year with the Sox, leading them to run him through waivers last winter. Wilson pitched his way back to the big leagues by the middle of April and turned in a quietly solid year.
Over a career-high 55 1/3 innings, Wilson pitched to a 3.42 earned run average. He punched out 21.1% of opposing hitters against a personal-low 9.1% walk rate. Wilson leans heavily on his slider and sits in the 93-94 MPH range with his fastball. He came up just shy of four years of service and is under arbitration control for the next three seasons. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projects him for a $1.5MM salary. Wilson has a full slate of options, so the Rays could send him between Tampa Bay and Triple-A Durham for the foreseeable future.
Gómez, 26, got a late-season look in the Sox’s rotation. He started nine of 12 appearances overall and turned in a 4.84 ERA through 48 1/3 innings. A former Yankees prospect, Gómez has bounced around the league on waivers. He’s out of options, which spurred the roster shuffling. Gómez sits in the 93-94 MPH range and has a deep arsenal but has never had pristine control. He’ll compete for a rotation or long relief role and will either need to break camp or again be designated for assignment.
The Sox swap Gómez for one of his former teammates coming through the Yankees’ system. Pereira, a righty-hitting outfielder, was once a notable international signee and solid prospect. The 24-year-old native of Venezuela has a career .271/.362/.519 batting line over three Triple-A seasons. Pereira’s solid power-speed combination has been undercut by strikeout concerns, though. He punched out at a 29% clip in the minors this year and struck out 28 more times in 73 big league plate appearances after the Rays acquired him from the Yankees at the deadline for José Caballero.
Pereira is also out of options. He’ll need to crack Chicago’s Opening Day roster or be designated for assignment. The Sox parting with a useful middle reliever for him suggests they’re likely to carry him in the big leagues. Pereira would slot behind Luis Robert Jr., Mike Tauchman and Andrew Benintendi as a fourth outfielder if the Sox keep all three of those players over the winter.
Murray, a 26-year-old non-roster utility player, rounds out the return. A fourth-round pick in 2020, Murray has gone unselected in the Rule 5 draft a few times. He’ll be eligible again this offseason unless the White Sox put him on the 40-man roster. He hit 18 homers but struck out at a 24.1% clip this past season with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A affiliate. He hit a below-average .241/.299/.400 across 572 plate appearances overall. The Sox figure to have him open the year with their top farm team in Charlotte.
Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase first reported that Gómez was being traded to Tampa Bay in a deal sending Pereira to Chicago. James Fegan of Sox Machine had the two-for-two swap. Respective images courtesy of Gary Vasquez and Kim Klement, Imagn Images.
White Sox Outright Mike Clevinger
April 18: Clevinger cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Triple-A Charlotte, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com. He has enough major league service to reject the assignment in favor of free agency.
April 16: The White Sox announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Steven Wilson. In a corresponding move, fellow righty Mike Clevinger has been designated for assignment. The Sox also announced that righty Justin Anderson, who was designated for assignment last week, has cleared waivers and been outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte.
Clevinger, 34, had some good years as a starter but never seemed to get back on track after Tommy John surgery. From 2017 through 2020, he posted a 2.96 earned run average and 28% strikeout rate across 489 1/3 innings in the majors. But he missed 2021 while recovering from TJS and hasn’t been able to get the punchouts back. From 2022 to 2024, he had a 4.20 ERA and 19.4% strikeout rate.
In 2024, he lingered unsigned into April before signing a $3MM deal with the White Sox. After a ramp-up period, he joined the club in May, making four starts before landing on the injured list with elbow inflammation. In July, he underwent season-ending disc replacement surgery in his neck.
Going into 2025, the Sox re-signed him via a minor league deal with the plan of trying him out in the bullpen. He tossed six scoreless innings in the spring and cracked the Opening Day roster but the regular season hasn’t been kind to him. So far, he has made eight appearances but logged just 5 2/3 innings. He has struck out three opponents but issued eight walks and allowed five earned runs.
It seems the Sox have decided to quickly pull the ripcord on the experiment. Given his poor results and $1.5MM salary this year, it’s unlikely there will be much interest from other clubs around the league. As a player with at least five years of service time, Clevinger has the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while keeping his salary in place. Unless he wants to report to Triple-A Charlotte and continue the relief experiment, he seems likely to be a free agent at some point in the next week.
Wilson, 30, was outrighted off the club’s roster in February. That left him to start the season in Triple-A, which has gone well so far. He has thrown 5 1/3 innings with one earned run, ten strikeouts and one walk. His big league track record consists of 140 2/3 innings between the Padres and White Sox with a 4.03 ERA, 24.2% strikeout rate and 12.2% walk rate. He still has a full slate of options, so he’ll give the Sox an extra bullpen arm with some roster flexibility.
Anderson has hit the three-year mark in terms of service time, which gives him the right to reject his outright assignment. However, since he has less than five years, he would have to forfeit his remaining salary to elect free agency. He and the Sox avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $900K salary this year. Presumably, he’ll want to keep that coming and will report to Triple-A Charlotte. He’ll give the Sox some non-roster depth and try to work his way back to the big leagues.
Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images
White Sox Designate Oscar Colas For Assignment, Claim Greg Jones From Rockies
The White Sox have designated outfielder Oscar Colas for assignment and claimed infielder/outfielder Greg Jones off waivers from the Rockies, per a team announcement. Chicago optioned Jones and righty Justin Anderson to Triple-A Charlotte. The Sox also reassigned infielders Bobby Dalbec, Tristan Gray and Chase Meidroth to minor league camp alongside righties James Karinchak and Steven Wilson.
Now 26 years old, Colas came to the White Sox with considerable fanfare. The Cuban-born slugger was touted as one of the more intriguing prospects on the 2020-21 and 2021-22 international amateur markets. He bizarrely (and frankly, unfairly) drew comparisons to Shohei Ohtani, of all players, for his plus raw power and because he’d dabbled in pitching during his time in Cuba and a brief foray into Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball. Outlandish as that comparison was, it did set some unrealistic expectations among fans who were dreaming on Colas as a potential superstar.
Even before the White Sox signed him, Colas had signaled that he no longer intended to pitch and that he’d focus his efforts on his work as a position player. He formally signed with Chicago in Jan. 2022 for a reported $2.7MM bonus. Colas went on to tear through minor league pitching that season, slashing .314/.371/.524 with 23 homers across three levels. Strong as those rate stats were, his production came with some red flags. Colas spent the bulk of the season playing against younger and less experienced competition, and he rarely walked. His strikeout rates also climbed rapidly as he moved from High-A to Double-A to Triple-A.
The Sox gave Colas his big league debut in 2023, and he quickly looked overmatched. In 75 games and 263 plate appearances, he hit just .216/.257/.314 with a tiny 4.6% walk rate and a bloated 27.6% strikeout rate. Of the 328 big league hitters with at least 250 plate appearances in 2023, Colas chased balls off the plate at the 13th-highest rate, per Statcast, despite also turning in a well below-average contact rate on such swings. Only 39 of those 328 hitters had a lower overall contact rate than Colas.
For all of Colas’ big league struggles in 2023, he at least turned in a .272/.345/.465 line in Triple-A Charlotte. That was league-average production by measure of wRC+ — a testament to the hitter-friendly nature of the Triple-A International and Pacific Coast Leagues. Colas showed solid discipline in the minors, walking at a 9.2% clip against a roughly average 22.3% strikeout rate.
The 2024 season brought considerable regression. Colas hit only .246/.332/.400 in Triple-A. His 11% walk rate was an improvement, and his 23.1% strikeout rate effectively matched the prior season, but Colas’ power deteriorated. He also became increasingly prone to hitting grounders and harmless infield flies; nearly one-quarter of his fly balls in Triple-A last year registered as infield flies. That’s more than double the 10.3% MLB average. Despite the Sox fielding a historically bad team, they scarcely gave Colas a look; he logged only 38 plate appearances and hit .273/.368/.273 while fanning 10 times (26.3%). Spring training hasn’t done Colas any favors. He received only 18 official plate appearances and went 4-for-16 with seven strikeouts.
The White Sox will now trade Colas or place him on waivers within the next five days. Outright waivers are a 48-hour process, which could drag his stay in DFA limbo out to a maximum of one week. Though he was a touted prospect not long ago, Colas’ struggles and limited skill set might allow Chicago to keep him. Today’s front offices typically aren’t enamored of power-focused corner bats with questionable on-base skills and sub-par defensive acumen.
In Jones, the Sox will pick up one of the sport’s fastest players. The 27-year-old has only six MLB plate appearances to his credit — he went 1-for-6 with a homer for Colorado last year — but drew 80 grades for his speed as a prospect. Jones went 46-for-49 in stolen bases at the Triple-A level last year despite being limited to just 89 games by injury. He hit .267/.344/.453 with the Rockies’ top affiliate (99 wRC+).
Jones is in the last of his three minor league option years. The former Rays first-rounder has split the bulk of his pro career between shortstop and center field. He’ll give the South Siders some depth at both spots and would presumably be an option in the outfield corners or at second base and third base as well. The Rockies gave him 64 games in center, 16 at shortstop, eight at second base and four in right field last year.
Colorado picked Jones up in a March 2024 trade sending left-handed pitching prospect Joe Rock to the Rays. The Rockies are left without anything to show for that swap now, whereas Rock has blossomed into a nearly MLB-ready rotation prospect for Tampa Bay. Rock profiles as more of a back-end starter or multi-inning reliever than a top-of-the-rotation talent, but the swap has clearly worked out in the Rays’ favor to this point.
White Sox Outright Steven Wilson
The White Sox announced that right-hander Steven Wilson, who was designated for assignment last week, has passed through waivers unclaimed and been outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte. He’ll be in big league camp as a non-roster invitee, per Scott Merkin of MLB.com.
Wilson, 30, came to the Sox just under a year ago as part of the Dylan Cease trade. He had put up some solid numbers in San Diego over the previous two seasons. He tossed 106 innings over 102 appearances in 2022 and 2023. He allowed 3.48 earned runs per nine. His 10.9% walk rate was a bit high but he struck out 25.4% of batters faced. He was trusted enough by the Friars to rack up a save and 27 holds.
But his 2024 ended up being a struggle, as he went on the injured list due to back strains on a couple of occasions. He did make 40 appearances around those IL stints but had a 5.71 ERA in those. His walk rate spike to 16% while his strikeout rate fell to 20.9%.
Despite the rough season, the White Sox tendered Wilson a contract for 2025 and avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $950K salary. They then bumped him off the roster when they claimed lefty Brandon Eisert last week. It seems none of the 29 other clubs were willing to grab Wilson at that price point, so he went unclaimed.
Wilson has three years of service time, which gave him the right to elect free agency. However, since he has less than five years of service, heading to the open market would have meant forfeiting that $950K. He’ll stick with the Sox and try to earn his way back onto the roster.
There’s a decent chance of opportunities opening up throughout the year. Justin Anderson is the only reliever on the roster with more than three years of service time. Penn Murfee is the only other guy beyond the two-year mark. That means very little is cemented in the group overall, which could afford Wilson a path back to the big leagues. If he gets back on the roster, he has a full slate of options.
White Sox Claim Brandon Eisert, Designate Steven Wilson
The White Sox announced Friday that they’ve claimed lefty Brandon Eisert off waivers from the Rays and designated right-hander Steven Wilson for assignment to clear space on the 40-man roster.
Eisert, 27, made his big league debut last season as a member of the Blue Jays — he’d previously gone from Toronto to Tampa Bay in a cash swap following a separate DFA — and allowed three runs in 6 2/3 innings. He spent the bulk of his season in Triple-A for a third straight year. Despite generally successful numbers there in seasons past, he didn’t get a big league look until 2024.
In three seasons with Triple-A Buffalo, Eisert posted a 3.83 ERA in 183 1/3 innings. The former 18th-round pick has set down 28.6% of Triple-A opponents on strikes against a tidy 7.9% walk rate. He’s consistently posted ground-ball rates between 42-44%, right around league-average, and allowed either 1.17 or 1.18 HR/9 in all three of those Triple-A campaigns. Eisert doesn’t throw hard, relying on a 90-92 mph heater as well as a slider and changeup that both fall in the 84-85 mph range. He’s consistently generated quality results in the upper minors, however, and has a pair of minor league option years remaining.
Wilson, 30, went from San Diego to Chicago as part of the Friars’ acquisition of Dylan Cease. He wasn’t a headline piece of the return by any means, but the Sox surely hoped that he could build off two solid seasons to begin his career as a member of the Padres’ bullpen. From 2022-23, Wilson totaled 106 innings of 3.48 ERA ball with a 25.4% strikeout rate, 10.9% walk rate, 1.19 HR/9, 27 holds and a save.
Things didn’t pan out as hoped. Wilson had multiple IL stints due to back strains, saw his fastball velocity dip from 94.5 mph to 93.4 mph on average, and served up eight homers in just 34 1/3 innings (2.08 HR/9). His 20.9% strikeout rate and 16% walk rate were both career-worst marks.
The Sox still tendered Wilson a contract after the season and came to terms on a $950K salary. That salary could now help him pass through waivers unclaimed, at which point the Sox could stash him in Triple-A. Wilson would have the right to reject an outright assignment to the minors in favor of free agency, but he’d have to walk away from his contract in order to do so. He’ll likely accept an assignment if it comes to that.
For the time being, the Sox will have five days to trade Wilson. At that point, he’ll need to be placed on outright waivers (a 48-hour process) if he’s to have his DFA resolved within the allotted one-week timeframe.
White Sox Claim Enyel De Los Santos Off Of Waivers From Yankees
The White Sox have claimed right-handed pitcher Enyel De Los Santos off of waivers from the Yankees, the team announced. The club also recalled right-hander Gus Varland from Triple-A Charlotte and placed fellow right-hander Steven Wilson on the 15-day injured list with a lower back strain. In addition, the White Sox transferred righty Mike Clevinger to the 60-day IL. The veteran underwent season-ending neck surgery in July. Transferring Clevinger to the 60-day IL frees up a space for De Los Santos on the 40-man. However, the White Sox will need to make an additional transaction in order to add him to the 26-man roster.
De Los Santos, 28, started the 2024 season with the Padres, who acquired him over the winter in exchange for Scott Barlow. Across 44 games for San Diego, De Los Santos pitched to a mediocre 4.46 ERA, giving up 21 runs (20 earned) on 39 hits over 40 1/3 innings. His underlying numbers were a little more promising (3.22 SIERA, 3.91 xFIP), and he was solid for the Guardians from 2022-23, putting up a 3.18 ERA and 3.57 SIERA over 120 appearances. Nonetheless, the Padres ran out of room for him after acquiring several new relievers at the trade deadline, so they flipped him to the Yankees alongside pitching prospect Thomas Balboni Jr. in exchange for minor league outfielder Brandon Lockridge.
The Yankees quickly soured on De Los Santos, however, designating him for assignment earlier this week. Funnily enough, the final straw for De Los Santos in the Bronx might have been his outing against the White Sox on Monday, when he gave up seven earned runs to his future team in 1 2/3 innings of work.
At this point in the season, the White Sox are simply looking for live arms to help them get to the finish line. They rank last in the AL with a 5.03 bullpen ERA, and their relief corps has been even worse as of late, pitching to a 6.17 ERA since the All-Star break. De Los Santos should be more than capable of providing the White Sox with innings over the final weeks of the season, and he could prove to be quite a smart pickup for Chris Getz and Co. if he rediscovers his 2022-23 form. He will be eligible for arbitration in 2025 and ’26, should the White Sox choose to keep him around.
The White Sox claimed Varland, 27, off of waivers from the Dodgers earlier this month. Neither his Triple-A numbers nor his MLB stats are particularly inspiring, but he can serve as additional bullpen depth for Chicago. Varland has a career 5.81 ERA and 5.45 SIERA across 26 1/3 innings with the Brewers and Dodgers over the past two years. Meanwhile, he has a 7.47 ERA and 5.00 FIP in 37 1/3 innings at Triple-A this season.
Wilson, 29, joined the White Sox this offseason as part of the trade that sent Dylan Cease to the Padres. Although he put up solid numbers during his two seasons in San Diego (3.48 ERA, 4.20 SIERA in 106 IP), he has had a difficult year in Chicago. Not only is this his second stint on the injured list with back troubles, but he has a 5.71 ERA and 5.38 SIERA in 40 appearances. According to Win Probability Added (WPA) and FanGraphs WAR, he has been one of the ten least valuable relievers in the AL this season.
White Sox Designate Tim Hill For Assignment
The White Sox announced today that outfielder Andrew Benintendi and right-hander Steven Wilson have been reinstated from the injured list. In corresponding moves, outfielder Duke Ellis was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte while left-hander Tim Hill was designated for assignment.
Hill, 34, signed with the White Sox in the offseason on a one-year deal with a guarantee of $1.8MM. The Sox were surely hoping that the experienced groundballer could provide a veteran presence to the club while also perhaps turning himself into a midseason trade chip.
Unfortunately, the results haven’t quite been there for Hill so far this year. He has made 27 appearances for the Sox but has an earned run average of 5.87. That’s obviously not a great number, but it’s possible that Hill has been more unlucky than bad.
His 11% strikeout rate is less than half the league average, but that’s not terribly unusual for him. He only struck out 12.6% of batters faced with the Padres in 2022, a season he finished with a 3.56 ERA. His 8.5% walk rate this year is right around league average while his 65.6% ground ball rate would actually be a career high, as his previous best was a clip of 61.8% in his rookie season.
The major difference in Hill this season seems to be a .436 batting average on balls in play. That’s well beyond the .286 league average and Hill’s career number of .310. ERA estimators like FIP and SIERA have Hill at 3.44 and 3.87 respectively, suggesting it’s possible he’s been closer to his previous form than it would appear at first glance, as he had a 3.72 ERA from 2020 to 2022. His exit velocity and hard hit numbers are roughly in line with previous seasons as well.
It’s possible the club’s poor defense isn’t doing him any favors, as the Sox have a collective -51 Defensive Runs Saved this year and -20 Outs Above Average. That DRS tally is the worst in the league while the OAA number in tied for last with the Marlins.
The Sox will now have one week to trade Hill or pass him through waivers. It’s possible that he could garner interest if some clubs are willing to overlook the earned runs this year and focus more on the underlying metrics. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment while retaining his salary.
White Sox Recall Zach DeLoach For MLB Debut
2:30pm: The White Sox have officially recalled DeLoach and right-hander Nick Nastrini, with the promotion of the latter reported on yesterday. In corresponding moves, Jimenez has been placed on the 10-day IL with a left hamstring strain and right-hander Steven Wilson lands on the 15-day IL due to a back strain, the latter retroactive to May 20.
9:10am: The White Sox are set to recall outfielder Zach DeLoach for his big league debut prior to today’s game against the Blue Jays, reports Francys Romero, who notes that DeLoach is coming up in light of Eloy Jimenez‘s injury. The Sox DH suffered a strained left hamstring last night, and the promotion of DeLoach likely points to another IL stint for the frequently injured Jimenez. Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times writes that while Jimenez is set to be further evaluated today, an IL stint is indeed seen as probable.
DeLoach, 25, was a second-round pick by the Mariners in 2020 who came to the Sox organization by way of the offseason Gregory Santos trade. He entered the season ranked 16th among Sox prospects at Baseball America and currently sits 29th on MLB.com’s White Sox top-30.
The left-handed-hitting DeLoach has opened the 2024 season with a .263/.358/.351 slash, two homers and eight steals in 159 plate appearances down in Charlotte. That’s a drop-off from the .286/.387/.481 slash he posted in 623 Triple-A plate appearances last year, though DeLoach has noticeably cut his strikeout rate from 27.8% to 22.6% and done so while maintaining an excellent 11.9% walk rate. Keen plate discipline is a hallmark of his game; DeLoach has never walked at anything lower than an 11.2% clip in his minor league career and carries an overall 13% walk rate since being drafted.
DeLoach has played all three outfield positions in his career, but he’s spent the bulk of his time in right field. MLB.com’s scouting report credits him with an average arm, while BA has him slightly below and feels he’s best-suited in left field. Despite last year’s 23 homers and the eight bags he’s already swiped this season, DeLoach doesn’t draw plus grades for either his power or speed. He’ll give the Sox an OBP-focused corner bat who’ll probably need to improve either his power, glovework or speed in order to profile as an everyday option — particularly since he’s been inconsistent when it comes to facing left-handed pitching.
DeLoach posted strong numbers against southpaws in 2023 and 2021 but struggled against them in 2022 and so far in 2024. On the whole, he’s handled lefties better than the average left-handed bat, but DeLoach hasn’t been nearly as steady against same-handed opponents as he has against right-handed pitchers, who he’s consistently knocked around throughout his pro career.
With Andrew Benintendi, Tommy Pham, Gavin Sheets, Dominic Fletcher and Corey Julks all already on the roster, DeLoach will give Chicago six outfield options. However, Benintendi has been one of the game’s least-productive hitters this season, while Sheets could see more time at DH with Jimenez hurt and/or at first base, where Andrew Vaughn has struggled nearly as much as Benintendi.