Pregame notes: White Sox go 0-for-2 with Rule 5 picks

While the Rule 5 draft produced the White Sox's two most valuable pitchers of 2025 in Shane Smith and Mike Vasil, the two pitchers they selected for this season didn't make it to April.

The White Sox returned Alexander Alberto to the Tampa Bay Rays toward the end of spring training, and now they've designated Jedixson Páez in advance of today's series finale against the Marlins. In his stead, they've purchased the contract of Lucas Sims.

As was the case with Alberto, Páez will first be exposed to the waiver process. If he goes unclaimed, the White Sox have to offer him back to the Red Sox, who have the choice of accepting Páez for half the $100,000 the White Sox paid for the selection, keeping the money and letting the White Sox retain Páez as a minor leaguer, or working out some sort of trade.

Even by Rule 5 standards, Páez faced steep odds of sticking since he was 1) right-handed, 2) averaged 91-92 mph with his fastball, and 3) hadn't pitched above A-ball prior to this year. He appeared in three games for the White Sox, and despite all three games being out of hand, it was a pretty difficult viewing experience. He allowed six runs on four hits (two homers) and three walks, and he failed to strike out any of the 16 batters he faced.

His first week in the majors stood in stark contrast to that of Peyton Pallette, the pitcher the White Sox lost to Cleveland in the Rule 5 draft. He's a right-hander who throws 95 and had a decent year at Charlotte, and he's been cromulent in the two low-leverage situations he's been asked to handle.

The White Sox's decision to leave Pallette unprotected was less of a bet against him ever experiencing any sort of major league success, and more a bet about whether he'd develop into anything beyond a fungible front-end option. For the time being, Sims is stepping into that fungible front-end option vacancy. He explored his options after throwing six scoreless innings during the spring as a non-roster invitee, and the White Sox validated his decision to return with the early call-up.

When he's right, his fastball-slider combination is impossible for righties to stack hits against, and they have to count on walks to keep the line moving. When he's off, the walks are too numerous to ignore, especially when he's plunking batters with alarming regularity as well.

Will Venable will have license to use Sims and many other relievers if he so chooses, because the White Sox postponed Thursday's home opener to Friday due to thunderstorms in the forecast.

First Pitch: White Sox at Marlins

TV: CHSN

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