5 players the Chicago White Sox should no longer play and who should replace those guys
Corey Julks has cooled off considerably after a great start with the White Sox. John Brebbia and Chad Kuhl should no longer be getting relief appearances. Chris Flexen should not start anymore. Nick Senzel should not be on the team anymore.
The one frustrating part of this season is the time the Chicago White Sox have wasted on bad veteran players.
The Sox wasted precious developmental big-league innings for someone like Jonathan Cannon in favor of seeing if veteran pitchers such as Mike Clevinger and Brad Keller could build some sort of trade market.
Tommy Pham was showcased for the league at the expense of Dominic Fletcher getting at-bats only for Pham to be bundled in a three-team deal that looks like the Sox got a young player who cannot hit at the big leagues and another prospect who has a broken leg.
The Sox are wasting even more time in the bullpen by demoting Matt Foster back to Triple-A after he just returned to the big leagues after Tommy John.
He is going to Charlotte in favor of Enyel De Los Santos getting a shot. De Los Santos was claimed off of waivers from the New York Yankees after the Sox knocked him around last week.
Now, that is not the problem. There is nothing wrong with churning over the bottom of the pen. The problem is veteran John Brebbia still has a job.
He has an ERA over six this month and an 8.31 ERA in July. The front office should have designated Brebbia for assignment to make room on the 26-man roster rather than send Foster back to the Knights.
Keeping Foster for the final six weeks serves as a data point to see what he has left in the tank and if he can help out the 2025 pen. Instead, Brebbia, who should not be with next year's team, will get more relief innings. He will most likely give up more runs.
Brebbia is one of five players the White Sox should stop giving innings or at-bats to the rest of the season.
Chad Kuhl is the other veteran relief arm that should be designated for assignment.
He has an ERA over nine for this month. Honestly, he is taking away valuable evaluation innings for cheaper and younger relief arms at Triple-A Charlotte.
Adisyn Coffey, Trey McGough, Sean Burke, and Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa should be given a chance to showcase what they can ahead of next year's spring training.
Something is gained if they are roughed up or shut down a lineup late in the game. Nothing is gained if Brebbia and Kuhl continue to give up runs.
I really cannot believe certain players are still getting play time for the White Sox when this team is already brutal and the only positives that can come are young players developing.
— Elijah Evans (@ElijahEv8) August 20, 2024
I just don't get it
Chris Flexen should no longer start games and instead, Mason Adams should be given an opportunity.
Flexen has been terrible since the All-Star break. He is going to pitch himself into trouble. The only thing you can hope is he minimizes the damage. He has gotten roughed up pretty good in two of his past four starts and has not pitched past five innings in five of his past six starts.
He is giving up runs and not eating innings. Nothing is gained anymore if that happens to him. If prospect Mason Adams gets promoted and gets roughed up or pitches great, something is great.
Even when Drew Thorpe returns from the 15-day IL, Ky Bush should stay in the rotation and Adams should be allowed to see what he can do in the rotation until Drew returns. Adams put up a 2.44 ERA at Double-A Birmingham before he recently got promoted to Triple-A.
A rotation of Garrett Crochet, Davis Martin, Cannon, Thorpe, and Bush should be what the Sox front office is evaluating for the rest of the season. If Thorpe gets shut down for the rest of the season, then Adams should be the next pitcher up to get a look.
Corey Julks should no longer get at-bats. Instead, Oscar Colas should get another opportunity.
Julks has struggled ever since he got off to a hot start in May. He hit .297 with a .882 OPS after the Sox traded for him that month.
He has not even come close to those numbers since. Julks had a .206 average in June with a .598 OPS. The return of Pham and Andrew Benintendi from the IL limited him to just 12 at-bats in July where he barely touched the baseball. He is not doing much better in August.
Julks is nothing more than a fourth outfielder on a bad team. He is an organizational depth piece. Colas might be that player too, but he still has some potential as he showed better plate discipline during his brief call-up this year. Colas just could not drive the ball.
Before the Sox completely give up on Colas, it would be worth it to see if he can drive the ball during the final weeks of the season. If anything he gives a better option off the bench to get on base late in the game than Julks. Colas also has better range in the field.
Nick Senzel is not going to resurrect his once-promising career. Instead, Nicky Lopez or Lenyn Sosa should be coming off the bench.
Senzel was acquired before the trade deadline to provide depth in case Paul DeJong was traded. Now that DeJong is gone, Senzel has barely seen the field since Miguel Vargas is being given the at-bats at third base.
He is showing nothing in his brief time with the team. A better idea is to send Lopez to the bench and get a long look at what Brooks Baldwin can do at shortstop and Lenyn Sosa at second. Lopez will be with the team next year, but the front office knows what Nicky can do.
They should use this time to see if Baldwin is capable of playing shortstop until top-hitting prospect Colson Montgomery is ready. Sosa is nothing more than a utility player so platooning both at second is a better option than keeping Senzel around. Senzel was once a highly thought-of prospect, but he probably needs to go to Japan or Korea to salvage his career.
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