Miguel Gonzalez was essentially found money for the White Sox in 2017. Signed in spring training after the pitching-starved Orioles inexplicably cut him, Gonzalez threw 133 serviceable innings that year and was good enough to be flipped in August to the Texas Rangers for a live body in Ti’Quan Forbes. It was a nice outcome for the White Sox, so nice in fact that they decided to run it back, signing Gonzalez in free agency ahead of the 2018 season. This time, they weren’t so fortunate as Gonzalez threw 12 1/3 really bad innings before landing on the disabled list with an injury that wound up ending his season. He went on a rehab assignment in June, suffered a setback, and underwent major shoulder surgery in July that may cost him all of 2019 as well. There will be no running it back for Gonzalez and the White Sox this time around, and at 34 it’s unclear if he’ll be seen in a major league uniform again.
Greg Infante’s Baseball Reference page is one of my favorites to look at. He threw 4 2/3 innings for the 2010 White Sox and then there’s just a huge gap before he turns up again with the 2017 White Sox. And it wasn’t because of a major injury or anything like that, Infante bid his time in the minors and worked his way back up over six years before garnering another call to the majors. It’s heart warming, really. And he wasn’t all that bad last season! Borderline good, even. 2018 was a different story. He broke camp with the team, walked eight and gave up eight runs in eight innings, and was jettisoned back to Charlotte for the duration of the season. Here’s hoping he pops up again on a major league roster sometime in 2024.
Jeanmar Gomez was your NRI pitcher du jour this season, as the journeyman who was only two years removed from saving 34 games for the Phillies (it’s true, I looked it up and everything), joined the White Sox in spring training and spent the first few months facing overmatched competition out of the bullpen for the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. He finally got the call in mid-July and was serviceable but unremarkable for the final 2 1/2 months. Did you know that Gomez got a plate appearance in the playoffs for the 2013 Pirates? I didn’t either. Huh.
Rob Scahill was kind of like Gomez but less notable in that nobody has ever really heard of him. I still haven’t heard of him. Have you? After tossing five September innings for the 2018 White Sox, he’s apparently now pitched 149 2/3 big league innings for four different teams in seven seasons. Scahill will battle with Dustin Garneau for the award of most likely player you’ll miss in the Sporcle quiz on the 2018 White Sox roster.
Jose Ruiz probably doesn’t deserve to be lumped in with this motley crew, as he’s the only of this quintet who is young and at least semi-interesting. But look, I wasn’t going to write a whole post about a reliever the White Sox picked up off waivers and threw 4 1/3 innings at the big league level, OK? Ruiz was actually really good at Double-A Birmingham this season and needed to be on the 40-man roster in order to avoid being eligible for the Rule 5 draft in December, so that’s the main reason he got big league time in September. At 24, he’s an interesting enough relief candidate next season and in the future for the White Sox to keep around.
Lead Photo Credit: David Banks-USA TODAY Sports