Chicago White Sox: Three alternate site players to call up first
The Chicago White Sox announced on Monday some details about their 2021 alternate site. The Minor League season is going to begin in May but until then, the AAA caliber players are going to begin at the designated alternate site. That is Wintrust Stadium in Schaumburg for the Chicago White Sox. A lot of good and potentially useful players are down there for now. These are the three players you are most likely to see be called up first:
player. 128. . SP. Chicago White Sox. Reynaldo Lopez. 40
Reynaldo Lopez would be the first pitcher that the Chicago White Sox brings up.
Reynaldo Lopez did not break camp with the Chicago White Sox. He has been sent down to this alternate site and could see some time in AAA. He has been beaten out for that fifth starter job by Carlos Rodon. Rodon deserved the job but it was sad for Lopez who works so hard. Since being a really good pitcher for the White Sox in 2018, he has really fallen off a cliff.
There is potential that more reps at the alternate site and perhaps AAA will get him going again. If there were an injury or two to anybody in the rotation or bullpen, Lopez would more than likely be the first called up. He has Major League experience with a fair amount of success in his early days.
Ethan Katz has seemed to do wonders for a few pitchers in the White Sox organization already so it will be interesting to see if he can fix Lopez. If they do bring him up at some point, you would have to figure that it is his last chance to stick around on a full-time basis.
player. 128. . C. Chicago White Sox. Seby Zavala. 44
As of right now, it appears that Seby Zavala is the Chicago White Sox third-string catcher.
When James McCann left the Chicago White Sox during the offseason, they knew that replacing him would be impossible. They have Yasmani Grandal who is a top-three catcher in the game but having a top-ten catcher in the game as the number two is really nice. James deserved everything he got from the New York Mets but we will certainly miss what he brought to the table.
That left the backup job open to whoever grabbed it. Jonathan Lucroy looked like a lock to take the job during spring training but they were going to start him at the alternate site so he asked to be released. Zack Collins had an awesome spring as well so he ended up with the job. Yermin Mercedes is also on the roster but it doesn’t feel like he is catching anytime soon. They use him for his bat as a DH more often than not.
If either Grandal or Collins goes down or has a performance issue, Seby Zavala could get a call up from the alternate site. Carlos Perez is the only other catcher down there so you would figure that Zavala is the first of the two to get the call. He has some Major League experience already which helps his case as well. It would be really cool to see him succeed wherever he ends up. Zavala is a likely player to be “first up” simply because the team only has three catchers on the active MLB roster and one of them barely ever catches.
Chicago White Sox. Danny Mendick. 20. player. 128. . INF
Danny Mendick would make a great backup infielder for the Chicago White Sox.
In 2020, Danny Mendick was a very important piece to the depth of the Chicago White Sox. He was nominated for a Gold Glove at second base as a backup player. That says a lot about how he was able to handle himself as a defender on a very good baseball team.
He isn’t known to be a big-time hitter but he was actually pretty good. He slashed .260/.292./.404 with an OPS of .696. They aren’t great numbers but they are certainly fine for a player who “can’t hit”. He was sent down to the alternate site in favor of Jake Lamb who is backing up Yoan Moncada, Tim Anderson, and Nick Madrigal in the infield. Leury Garcia is also an option to play on the infield this year.
If any of them goes down or the defense continues to be a nightmare, they will consider bringing up Mendick. As mentioned before, he is outstanding with his glove and would make a phenomenal defensive replacement late in the ballgame. The White Sox needs all hands on deck to be good this season and Mendick has already proved that he can help with that.
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We don’t know how long it will be before the White Sox starts using the alternate site as a feeder for the MLB team but it should come at some point. They can’t afford that many more injuries but it is nice to have a little bit of depth. Hopefully, this alternate site squad can continue to get better so the MLB squad can benefit from it.