The Chicago White Sox had an opportunity to call up a pitching prospect to help aid their struggling bullpen. But instead, the team is adding another uninspiring veteran to the active roster.
Miguel Castro was placed on the 15-day injured list on Friday after tearing the patellar tendon in his right knee. That opened up a roster spot, and the Sox are using it on 32-year-old Dan Altavilla, who re-signed with the team after opting out of his minor league deal.
Prior to today’s series opener at Baltimore, the Chicago White Sox agreed to terms on a one-year, $1-million contract with right-handed pitcher Dan Altavilla. To make room for Altavilla on the 26-man roster, the White Sox placed right-hander Miguel Castro on the 15-day injured…
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) May 30, 2025
Altavilla did not earn a spot in the bullpen out of Spring Training after signing with Chicago in the offseason.
He was recently granted his release from the organization after he opted out of his minor-league deal with the club. He likely would still be on the market had the Sox not lost a bullpen arm to a significant injury.
Altavilla went from being dispensable to leveraging a Major League contract because Miguel Castro's injury.
While Altavilla has pitched well down in Triple-A this season, it would have been better in the long run for the Sox to call up some of their promising bullpen prospects instead.
Altavilla's lack of Major League success
It feels to me like Altavilla will be another veteran bullpen arm wasting precious big league developmental time for young hurlers such as Peyton Pallette, Grant Taylor, or Wikelmen González.
The Sox have not had much success with their veteran relievers this year, and is hard to see Altavilla being the veteran to breaking the trend.
Altavilla posted a 14.73 ERA in five games for the Kansas City Royals last season. He did not make the Major Leagues in 2023 and missed all of 2022 with an injury.
In 2021, Altavilla only made two appearances for the San Diego Padres and had a 6.75 ERA. In 2020, he made 22 combined appearances for the Padres and Mariners and had a 5.75 ERA. The year before, he had a 5.52 ERA in 17 games. Noticing a trend?
Altavilla had some success with the Seattle Mariners during the early days of his career. Injuries and ineffectiveness have wreaked havoc since then. The last time he had success at the Major League level was seven years ago in 2018.
Altavilla made his White Sox debut against Baltimore on Friday. He did a scoreless inning and struck out two batters. But even if Altavilla has temporary success for the Sox, I still don't see the point in giving him innings over a younger pitcher with more upside.
Welcome to the White Sox, Dan Altavilla 🤩 pic.twitter.com/onO9QP9P9Y
— White Sox on CHSN (@CHSN_WhiteSox) May 30, 2025
Better bullpen options for the White Sox
Rather than call up someone who is clearly not a viable bullpen option, the Sox should have tried Pallette in some high-leverage spots that the team. His stuff and numbers in the minors point to him being a future closer, which is a need for the organization.
The team has decided to scrap the idea of developing Top 10 prospect Grant Taylor to his ceiling as a starter. He is consistently hitting 100 mph on the radar gun. Taylor was pitching well in Spring Training there was some belief he could break camp with the team. The only reason he went to the minors was to be stretched as a starter. Now that he has been moved to the bullpen and is commanding his fastball at Double-A, let's see him in Chicago!
Every pitch that Taylor, González, and Pallette throw in the minors is a waste of time in my eyes. Especially when they are being passed over for Altavilla, who the league knows is not effective anymore.