The Chicago White Sox have made an interesting decision by moving top 20 prospect Wikelman González into a bullpen role after being called up to Triple-A Charlotte.
The scouting reports on González have always had his floor being a reliever in the major leagues, but given his 3.93 ERA and 98 career minor league starts, González seemed to have some upside as a starter.
Moving González is an interesting decision because White Sox starting pitching depth is woefully thin right now after a bunch of the team's top 30 prospects went down for the season due needing Tommy John surgery.
Drew Thorpe, Ky Bush, and Mason Adams are all unavailable. All three were lost in Spring Training to Tommy John. At the big league level, the White Sox are also down Martín Pérez.
The White Sox have seemed committed in the past to developing young hurlers to reach their ceilings. The same scouting reports that project González as a reliever also provide hope that he could one day be a middle-of-the-rotation pitcher. It's interested to see Chicago seemingly give up on that upside.
According to Sox farm director Paul Janish, the plan is to still have González stretched out and doing multiple innings at a time.
‘‘It’s not necessarily going to be one inning [at a time]; it’s going to be two to three innings, depending on the pitch count,’’ Janish said to the Chicago Sun-Times in a recent media session. ‘‘But the thought there is to get him comfortable with that role. Not to say he’ll never start again, but at this juncture, from a major-league contribution standpoint, there’s some thought that he can help in the pen.’’ (via Chicago Sun-Times)
The White Sox starting rotation is full
Health permitting, the White Sox could feature a rotation anchored by Sean Burke, Shane Smith, Noah Schultz, Hagen Smith, and Grant Taylor in the future. They also have Davis Martin under club control for another handful of years and a few other underrated pitching prospects.
Nick Nastrini can be the young arm the Sox keep in Triple-A Charlotte to provide some depth along with veterans Justin Dunn and Mike Clevinger. Any of those guys could be called upon later this season to help eat innings in the big leagues.
In the long run, the White Sox will also need to think about developing a young, effective bullpen. The last White Sox rebuild saw Rick Hahn allocate too much of the limited financial resources on relievers. They spent on Liam Hendriks, Kendall Graveman, and Joe Kelly. They traded away prospects for Craig Kimbrel.
Getting a cost-controlled bullpen is key. It is best for this current rebuild if the 2027 bullpen features a lot of pitchers that were drafted and developed by the White Sox or young arms that were acquired in trades. That way, the bullpen comes cheap, and then money can be used on lineup upgrades.
González fits the mold for a high-leverage reliever
Wikelman González came over in the Garrett Crochet trade from Boston. Chase Meidroth, who was also in that deal, is already up with the Major League team and batting lead off. Kyle Teel and Braden Montgomery are two the five prospects the Sox have in MLB Pipeline's Top 100.
González was always a the fourth piece of that trade. He's the biggest wild card of the bunch.
His fastball is the only pitch that grades out above average and can reach as high as 99 mph on the radar gun. His curve, slider, and changeup grade out as average pitches. Being a fastball heavy pitcher makes him an ideal bullpen arm.
The problem for González is his command. His WHIP was 1.65 at Double-A Birmingham this season. In my opinion, it makes sense to pivot and develop him to his floor, especially if Mike Vasil has a chance to stretch out into a starter later in the season or gets more opportunities to be a high-leverage arm.
If that happens, the White Sox are going to need someone to come up behind Vasil and fill that long relief role.
‘‘Assuming health and performance, I think it’s very safe to assume you can see him,’’ Janish said when asked if González could reach the majors this year in his new role.
After getting promoted to Triple-A Charlotte in this bullpen role, González has not allowed a run in three appearances. He has six strikeouts, three walks, and has allowed one hit in six innings of work.
This change also maximizes the team's ability to get all four prospects they acquired from Boston to the majors. If that happens, and all four prospects contribute, then the Crochet deal will look like a huge win.