White Sox designate veteran pitcher for assignment after a lackluster start to the season. They also reinstated outfielder from bereavement.
The Chicago White Sox announced on Friday that they designated Ervin Santana for assignment while also reinstating Eloy Jimenez from the bereavement list. Jimenez will take Santana’s roster spot on the team. Santana made his last start for the White Sox this past Wednesday in a losing effort against the Baltimore Orioles.
At the beginning of Spring Training, the White Sox signed Santana to a minor league deal. The 36-year-old starting pitcher was coming off an injury-plagued 2018 season with the Minnesota Twins and looking to have a solid 2019 season. Unfortunately for Santana, he was unable to reclaim his past form with the Sox.
Through just three starts this season, Santana compiled a 0-2 record with a 9.45 ERA through 13.1 innings pitched with the White Sox. In his final start with the team, Santana lasted just 4.2 innings while allowing four earned runs on six hits and recording one strikeout. His best outing with the Sox came on April 15 against the Kansas City Royals.
In that outing, Santana pitched a season-high five innings while allowing three earned runs on six hits and recording three strikeouts. While Santana was looking to make a comeback this season, his journey to redemption could end with his latest DFA from the Sox. It’s unfortunate for a veteran such as Santana as he was afforded the opportunity to regain his form despite his age but things just didn’t work out.
For Jimenez, his reinstatement to the Sox is good news. However, he’s coming back to the team after the death of his grandmother. Jimenez hasn’t had the start to his major league career he would like to have as he’s struggled at times offensively and defensively. Despite his slow start to this season, he’s still a big part of the Sox future.
It will be interesting to see how the Sox handle Jimenez’s defensive liabilities in left field this season. He has often times looked lost in the outfield when attempting to catch routine fly balls and hasn’t shown much speed to prevent singles hit to left field from becoming doubles or triples. His defensive play could also be affecting his performance at the plate. Hopefully, for Jimenez, he can turn around his season much sooner rather than later as Sox fans could use more positive news.