The White Sox made 11 roster moves, but you'd never know it from the lineup card they posted for the series opener against the Minnesota Twins tonight. The only sign of the turnover is at the top of the order.
- Tim Anderson, SS
- Andrew Benintendi, LF
- Andrew Vaughn, 1B
- Eloy Jiménez, DH
- Luis Robert, CF
- Gavin Sheets, RF
- Yasmani Grandal, C
- Jake Burger, 3B
- Elvis Andrus, 2B
Underneath the minor ripple on the surface is a savage undertow that carried a couple members of the White Sox out to sea.
Let's count to 11:
Anderson (1) and Hanser Alberto (2) returned from the injured list, taking the places of Lenyn Sosa (3) and Romy González (4). Sosa is returning to Charlotte while González is heading to the injured list with right shoulder inflammation, but their destinations accomplish the same purpose as far as the 26-man roster is concerned. Throw in Joe Kelly (5) heading to the paternity list as planned, and these account for the expected moves.
We're not even halfway there.
Of the six remaining moves, half involve the bullpen. Alexander Colomé (6) and Sammy Peralta (7) are up. Colomé accounts for Kelly's spot, but the White Sox made room for Peralta by designating Jake Diekman (8) for assignment.
Two are in the outfield, as the White Sox sent down Oscar Colás (9) and called up Billy Hamilton (10) to fill in the depth chart.
The White Sox only had one roster spot open after the outrighting of A.J. Alexy this past weekend, so they DFA'd Frank German (11) along with Diekman to accommodate the overflow of Colomé, Peralta and Hamilton coming aboard.
I couldn't remember the White Sox cracking double digits with roster moves in one announcement, and a search of my email shows them topping out at six during the regular season. Maybe writers around the league are paying special attention to how atrocious the White Sox have been, but even they noticed the body count:
Eleven roster moves. https://t.co/2opu552K0w
— Kyle Glaser (@KyleAGlaser) May 2, 2023
Not sure I've ever seen a team make 11 roster moves on a random day during the season before.
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) May 2, 2023
Tim Anderson's return is the headliner here, but old friends Alexander Colomé and Billy Hamilton are also joining the White Sox for the #MNTwins series.https://t.co/u9XhPIfMjP
When you’re doing this on the second day of May, you probably didn’t fare great in April. https://t.co/VBvLwA8tgE
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) May 2, 2023
Why does this look like a tombstone https://t.co/kKW5N1n9vu
— Zach Buchanan (@ZHBuchanan) May 2, 2023
The Colás and Diekman moves are the most substantial to the medium-term roster, but neither are shockers. Colás hit .211/.265/.276 in his first run at MLB pitching, but that production was front-loaded (.125/.182/.150 over his last 11 games). Throw in a 60-percent ground-ball rate and the fact that he only played seven games for Charlotte last year, and, sure he can use more seasoning. That the White Sox made him their Plan A in right field isn't his problem. He just works here, man.
As for Diekman, I mentioned on Monday that he had allowed a .500 OBP against lefties, which basically threw away a roster spot. The White Sox recognized a sunk cost and will eat the $3 million or so remaining on his deal plus buyout. It looked like a bad trade when Rick Hahn made it, and it ended up even worse.
The hope is that Peralta, whom the White Sox selected in the 18th round of the 2019 draft, will be able to top that production. He made some serious headway in the last couple season, striking out 68 batters over 56 innings to stand out in an otherwise dreadful Birmingham bullpen last year, then posting similar numbers in Charlotte so far this season. Lefties are just 3-for-21 with two walks against him so far this year, although Peralta had reverse splits in 2022. His best pitch is his changeup, so he might not fill that LOOGY type the Sox envisioned with Diekman, but Diekman wasn't doing anything.
As for Hamilton, he had some leverage with being able to opt out of his minor league contract at the start of the month, and the White Sox could use the defensive depth out there. They could also use an encore of the vibes he provided in 2021, but that's asking a lot of his 80-grade smile.
Kelly can miss up to three games on paternity leave, so Colomé's stay could be that short-lived, unless Jimmy Lambert continues his plummet from medium-leverage competence. I'd like to see Colomé pitch at least once, because he was one of baseball's slowest workers before the pitch clock, and I'm curious to see how he handles the corrective actions. If the results in Charlotte are any indication -- 8 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, 4 BB, 7 K -- it probably won't be what makes or breaks him.
