White Sox sign Daniel McCutchen to minor league deal
Apr 4, 2014; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Daniel McCutchen (39) throws a pitch during the fifth inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
There is a new pitcher in the Chicago White Sox organization, that being Daniel McCutchen, who they signed to a deal this weekend.
Colleen Kane, of the Chicago Tribune, reported the signing on Twitter:
White Sox have signed RHP Daniel McCutchen to a minor-league contract. Started season with Rangers.
— Colleen Kane (@ChiTribKane) June 27, 2014
Looking at McCutchen, he’s played parts of five different seasons in the Majors, including this season playing for the Texas Rangers. In just one appearance this season with the Rangers, McCutchen pitched just 2.1 innings allowing three runs (two earned) on four hit and two walks.
One of those hits allowed was a home run.
For his MLB career, McCutchen had pitched in 109 games (15 starts) with almost all of his playing career (all but one game) coming with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
With the Pirates in 2011 he pitched in 73 games (84.2 IP) with an ERA of 3.72. In 2012 he pitched in one game, and missed the ’13 season in the Majors.
MLB Trade Rumors wrote on McCutchen:
"“He had a 7.05 ERA and 8.1 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 over 60 innings (including eight starts) at Triple-A with Texas.”"
On Saturday the Charlotte Observer wrote of the 31-year old McCutchen:
"“He last pitched on June 22 against Fresno and allowed one run on five hits over 42/3 innings.”"
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What can it hurt to send McCutchen to Triple-A Charlotte to see if he can regain that 3.72 MLB ERA from the bullpen? It is always tough to tell if a pitcher can be what he once was, but maybe working with a different organization and instructors in the Minors, in Charlotte, can possible make this signing worthwhile for McCutchen and the White Sox organization.
At least they are trying to find some help for their bullpen, and maybe a guy like McCutchen who hopefully just needs some parts of his game tweaked can eventually find his way back on the White Sox roster, helping their struggling bullpen.