Kevan Smith didn’t blow the roof off the place by any means. But the offensive threshold for catchers isn’t high, and a .283/.309/.388 line is perfectly acceptable for a backup catcher type. The metrics didn’t love his defense, as his -6.6 FRAA ranked 29th out of 35 catchers who saw at least as much playing time as Smith (Omar Narvaez, for the record, checked in at 30th), but he got nothing but positive reviews from pitchers on how he called the game from behind the plate. Smith is still a long shot to be a contributor to a contending team, of course. He’ll be 30 in June, and for however good I made him sound in the previous few sentences, all of that added up to what was essentially a replacement level catcher. But for a rebuilding team plagued by the Curse of Non-Tendering Tyler Flowers, the White Sox couldn’t have asked for much better given the expectations coming in.

The reason, of course, that Smith got as much playing time as he did is because the veteran backstop the White Sox brought in on a cheap, minor league deal played all of 13 games. Geovany Soto’s bat has been, for the better part of his career, a plus as far as catchers go. The White Sox let him go after an unimpressive but not terrible 2015 season, and he came back this year to presumably split time behind the plate with Narvaez. But after battling knee injuries during his year in Los Angeles, he underwent arthroscopic elbow surgery after suffering an injury in April and was never seen again.

Soto is the type of inexpensive veteran who makes sense as roster filler for a rebuilding team, particularly one bereft of impact catchers at or near the major league level. Whether he’s able to continue to be something close to that is up in the air, but by the start of next season he’ll be a 35-year-old catcher with a long list of injuries in his past, so his swan song may have already been sung.

My full time job revolves around designing sports sections for daily newspapers (yes, those still exist), and a lot of the papers I design are in cities with minor league baseball teams. One of my favorite things to do while designing these papers is look through that day’s minor league box score for some random major league retread still hanging around at Triple-A.

Chris Volstad was the epitome of that for the White Sox the last few years. You’d look at the Charlotte Knights roster and go “WTF is Volstad doing here?!” It became particularly funny in 2017 when Volstad was joined in the rotation by guys actually worth being excited about. Imagine going to a Knights game, where you’d have the chance to see Lucas Giolito or Reynaldo Lopez, or at least guys like Carson Fulmer or Tyler Danish. But nope. You bought a ticket on a day when Volstad was pitching. I live 10 minutes from the home stadium of the Round Rock Express, the Texas Rangers’ Triple-A affiliate, and I did that once on a day Kyle Lohse was pitching. Minor league baseball is fun regardless of who is playing, and at Triple-A you’re not exactly at a game chock full of prospects (I went to an Express game this year that featured the likes of Will Middlebrooks, Pete Kozma, and Jared Hoying), but it’s a lot less fun when you’re watching an aging hurler holding onto his career by a thread. In fact, it’s kind of sad. Dammit, now I’m sad.

Anyway, that’s the end of my story. Volstad threw 19 2/3 innings for the 2017 White Sox.

Check out Michael Ynoa’s first Baseball Prospectus Annual comment from back in 2009:

It’s hard to get a PECOTA projection when you’ve yet to pitch a pro inning, and even more difficult when you’ve barely pitched a competitive inning at all. But Inoa is deserving of far more than just a comment at the tail end of the chapter. The talk of scouting circles all spring, the Domican wunderkind signed for $4.25 million, more than doubling the previous high-water mark for a Latin American pitcher. Many who saw him called him the best 16-year-old arm they’ve ever seen; he already touches 94 mph, has a very good breaking ball, and with a long, loose six-foot-seven frame, his potential is almost immeasurable. Obviously he’s very young, and there are countless things that could go wrong between where Inoa is now and potential stardom, but his talent is borderline historic, and deserves mention.

All of the countless things that could have gone wrong for Ynoa went wrong, and eight years later he’s coming off a season where he walked 22 batters in 29 innings, got hurt, was DFA’d, and subsequently spent the remainder of the season in the minors. When the White Sox acquired Ynoa in the infamous Jeff Samardzija trade, there was at least a “Hmmm” factor, given his once lofty prospect status. He’s now 26, remains injury prone, and has yet to demonstrate the ability to throw the ball over the plate on a consistent basis. The optimism, it is waning.

Lead Photo Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

1. Gonzalez looked really crisp for that inning he was in the game, striking out two and recording a scoreless inning, but all of sudden came to a stop with a 3-2 count to Salvador Perez and had to be pulled from the game. It’s been reported as a groin strain, and while the Sox have not officially announced it, he told beat writers he’s headed to the disabled list. Gonzalez had been nothing short of dominant since the beginning of July, accumulating a 2.76 ERA since the first of last month coming into Thursday night, going beyond simply being quite the savior as a league-average starter plucked from the waiver wire in Spring Training.

He was going to earn some money in arbitration, and this stinks for him.

2. Michael Ynoa is not the first name that comes to mind when multiple clean innings are needed, but he somehow dug up his best outing of the season, pitching three walkless, hitless and scoreless innings while striking out three. He really only flashed mildly upgraded control, and if his ability to hit the zone was the same with an only mild reordering of the pitches, he probably issues a couple walks, but it was nice to see him succeed for once. There’s a major league guy in there somewhere if the command ticks up a grade or two (or three).

After Ynoa gave way, Carson Fulmer came in for three innings of his own. He was dominant in his opening frame, twirling a perfect fifth, but started the sixth by issuing a leadoff walk to Jarrod Dyson–never smart, and Dyson getting thrown out at second by Dioner Navarro was overturned on replay–and hung a slider to new Royals tormentor Cheslor Cuthbert. A liner from Cuthbert to the right-center gap rolled all the way to wall past center fielder Adam Eaton, and tied the game a 1-1, and Eric Hosmer plated Cuthbert when he took a slightly sharper cutter and poked it to right.

3. That was all the offense the Royals would need. Their lineup had just four hits all night, but Duffy twirled a complete game with only 98 pitches, and didn’t allow anyone to reach third base after the Sox scratched across their only run in the second inning.

4. Sox rookies combined for the only offense as well. Demoted to the sixth spot for the night, Tim Anderson broke out for two hits, and flashed some more of his speed when Jason Coats inside-outed a two-out single to center to drive him in from second. Melky Cabrera was the only other Sox hitter to have a multi-hit night, but Cuthbert’s triple was the only extra-base hit of the entire game for either side.

5. Since the Sox have not formally announced Gonzalez’s move to the disabled list, they have not determined a roster replacement for Miami yet. Seeking help for a worn out bullpen and deciding on the replacement for Gonzalez in the rotation later seems like the move for the weekend. Matt Purke has already been up this year and would address the lefty void left by Zach Duke, Juan Minaya has been actually throwing strikes, which distinguishes him from the rest of the Charlotte pitching staff, and Zack Burdi‘s rapid ascent can only be held off for so long.

Team Record: 54-60

Next game is Friday at 6:10pm CT on CSN at Miami

Lead Image Credit: John Rieger // USA Today Sports Images

Nate Jones has also been solid, but not great. His command has never been good, but since he sits 97 mph with a high-80s slider, he has found some degree of comfort with the idea of filling the zone (seven walks in 33.1 innings) and letting his stuff figure things out for him. Unfortunately, his leaning off of his slider (dropped his usage by over a third) has drawn his strikeout rate below a batter an inning.

Those are their best guys.

Save for Zach Duke, who has really crystallized into a lefty specialist (1.07 FIP vs. lefties, 4.62 vs. righties) and thus has a unique role on the club, the Sox don’t have anyone else they can trust with even medium leverage work. Zach Putnam arguably had the best peripherals of anyone in the pen, then he dug into the rubber Monday night, walked all three batters he faced, then promptly went on the disabled list with ulnar neuritis in his elbow.

Three days without clarification on the severity of Putnam’s injury has not lent any confidence that it’s simple inflammation prompting an ailment typically associated with numbness in the hand. Putnam was the clear winner of the seventh inning role, but now that he’s down, the way in which his competitors have fallen to the wayside is a bigger issue.

Jake Petricka had an awful start to the year, so it didn’t set off alarm bells when he went down with hip issues, but he was supposed to be someone who got enough ground balls to sop up some later innings that didn’t require Jones or Robertson. Tommy Kahnle was always a lottery ticket, but now that he’s shown no sign of being anything useful, along with Jacob Turner basically disappearing after getting $1.5 million guaranteed, and the Sox having none of their tiny depth moves bearing fruit when they desperately need one.

Lefty Dan Jennings somehow has a shiny 1.95 ERA despite losing two miles on his fastball and a 19/17 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Matt Albers hasn’t even been major league quality since his scoreless streak died, and is only still getting opportunities because of the taxi station that has opened up elsewhere.

Neither Chris Beck, Matt Purke nor Michael Ynoa were even particularly dominant in Triple-A when they got called up. Beck has struggled to miss bats as a starter, and neither Purke nor Ynoa showed their control was major league ready in the minors. So naturally Ynoa was brought in to protect a one-run lead in the eighth Wednesday night, Beck faced the heart of the Red Sox order with a two-run lead in seventh Thursday and stayed in even when the first three batters reached and fourth nearly clocked a grand slam, and Purke took the loss in the 10th.

Robin Ventura’s tendency to over-test what should be his last resorts aside, he’s down to the point of trying rookies because at least they have not proven themselves bad and unfit yet. Ynoa at least looks like he should get guys out easily, which probably is how he got signed to a huge bonus out of the Dominican Republic in the first place: he’s massive, throws mid-90s out of six-foot, seven-inch frame and can give an impression of someone who looks overwhelming. This type of reasoning is good for talking yourself into being confident on a single-inning basis, but is less charming when it’s being thrown around for plotting the roster for the second half of the season.

The White Sox haven’t won a game by more than 2 runs since May 13th.

— Nick Schaefer (@Nick_BPSS) June 23, 2016

With another year or terrible Sox offense settling in, it’s hard to imagine a club that stacks more high-leverage innings on its prime relievers. Any Sox winning streak doubles as a brutal stretch of labor for Jones and Robertson, and even being in a position to win in all the games of a four-game set becomes a grueling war of attrition/Russian roulette by the third night.

There is an obvious conclusion here that the Sox need a reliever or two. Every team worth anything, save for those teams who need nothing because their seasons are meaningless, needs mid-season relief help. But the Sox, whose deficit in the division is approaching the point where it might be more expedient to check the Wild Card standings first (3.5 back, by the way), are particularly in need. They simply cannot afford to spurn actual hot streaks from their offense and rotation by turning over high-leverage innings to organizational depth, and still expect to climb over the stack of half-contenders piled between them and ending a seven-year playoff drought, and yanno, saving some people’s jobs.

But this burning, immediate need is coupled with the burning, immediate need already apparent from J.B. Shuck getting regular plate appearances, Avisail Garcia somehow having his worst offensive season to date, and the inevitable acknowledgement that the catching platoon has both not delivered the offense hoped for and been even worse defensively than originally feared.

All of this is a lot to deal with right now, especially since it’s been allowed to fester for so long, that reshaping the Sox roster by the deadline seems as reasonable as hoping Beck can pitch out of a bases loaded, no one out jam against the best offense in the league: it’s unrealistic and foolhardy, even if you understand that it’s a necessity.

Lead Image Credit: Kamil Kezaczynski // USA Today Sports Images

Truth be told, White Sox fans were probably a little scared, too.

After seeing a bullpen that just a month ago was the best in baseball go through a revolving door of 14 pitchers (and one position player) so far this season, and drop to just the ninth-best in baseball, all Sox fans wanted was for someone to come in and stop the bleeding in a series that saw the Detroit Tigers offense score 21 runs in two games.

In came Ynoa. Though the White Sox did not rally for a dramatic win Tuesday night as they did in the series opener, they instead potentially saw a flash of long-term hope for a recently very tired bullpen.

Ynoa pitched two scoreless innings of relief Tuesday night in a major league debut that was eight turbulent years in the making. He struck out two and walked as many while showing off the heat, getting his fastball as high as 96 mph on the evening.

Before even throwing a professional pitch, Ynoa was once the 20th-ranked prospect by Baseball Prospectus in 2009 at age 17 while in the Oakland A’s organization. However, Ynoa’s career took a turn down a path of significant injuries that included shoulder issues, and elbow tendinitis that led to Tommy John surgery in 2010. Ynoa would not throw another pitch until 2012, and had quickly become a shell of the pitcher who once graced that top-20 prospect list and netted him the highest signing bonus in Oakland A’s history at the time.

But at just 24-years-old now, reinventing himself with what he has left was the only option for Ynoa. His gratitude for the opportunity to play in the majors in any capacity after the struggles he’s faced did not go unnoticed.

“I’m happy to be here, and thanks to the White Sox (for giving) me this opportunity. And I’m really happy. I’m really happy.” Ynoa told the media after his initial call up with the White Sox in April when centerfielder Adam Eaton went on the paternity list. Ultimately, Ynoa did get the chance to appear due to the context being postponed by rain. The wait continued, but Ynoa was suited up and closer to his dream than he’d been in nearly a decade.

The rain fell again on Tuesday evening at U.S. Cellular Field, yet it wasn’t enough to deter Ynoa from the inevitable any longer. After the nerves settled and Ynoa arrived at the threshold of his long-dreamed destination, the calm and collected demeanor of a man trying to prove his worth again took over.

“I think at this point of his career he’s been around long enough where he knows this is his shot” said Sox announcer Steve Stone during the broadcast.

Indeed, this was Ynoa’s shot, and he did not fail to impress. Let’s take a look at a couple of the key moments Ynoa had on the night, and what they mean.

Strikeout 1: Ian Kinsler

Ynoa struggled to command his fastball in this sequence, which seemed to be a bit of a common theme on the evening. However, what he did do was successfully employ his ability to change eye levels of the batter despite the lack of command, and showed he can improvise in order to stay alive. After three fastballs outside the zone, one on which he induced a swing and miss, Ynoa was able to pound the zone and keep himself in the count before switching to the slider for a called strike three. Ynoa’s fastball control may be an issue that gets him into jams in the future, but his ability to tighten up when he’s behind in the count along with good sequencing can serve as an effective countermove.

Strikeout 2: Nick Castellanos

Ynoa showed that is slider has the ability to be a plus secondary for him, but it isn’t without it’s flaws. However, this was still an exceptional sequence in which he not only used his slider, but broke out his excellent curveball as well, showing a strong mix of potential plus pitches in his arsenal that explain why he was once heralded as a starter.

Ynoa starts off the sequence with a well located 94 mph high fastball that Castellanos fouls off. Changing speeds, Ynoa shows off a brilliant 80 mph curveball with exceptional movement that leaves Castellanos stunned to go behind 0-2. Ynoa then offers up three-straight sliders which were just a bit wild, but still able to induce a swing-and-miss for the final strike. Being able to locate his first two pitches in the zone to get ahead in the count left room for Ynoa to experiment with the slider and eventually grab the final strike swinging, even while missing the zone.

Walk 1: Jose Iglesias

After starting off Iglesias with a low fastball that could have easily been a called strike one, Ynoa throws a slider in on Iglesias that misses for ball two and quickly falls way behind in the count. Continuing to change eye levels on Iglesias, Ynoa comes back to the same spot with the fastball but again does not receive the call.

In this instance, Ynoa was hitting his spot, but not receiving swings from Iglesias or favorable calls on borderline pitches from home plate umpire Quinn Walcott. Ynoa  comes right down the middle with a 94 mph fastball for strike one to make the count 3-1, but then misses inside againg with a high fastball, surrendering a walk. This walk could have easily been avoided, but as we can see here, the stuff is good, and sometimes this is just how the chips fall on a hitter who has raised his walk rate by over three percentage points this season.

Walk 2: J.D. Martinez

Ynoa’s second walk on the evening was to a Tigers hitter who was on base four times already on the evening, and had six hits over two games in there series. Can you blame him pitching him in this way and attempting to avoid any damage here?

Though Ynoa has only pitched two innings in the major leagues, his overall presence on the mound as well as his ability to work with what he currently has was really impressive, and shows the potential for longevity in a relief role. He may not be perfect, and his next two innings pitched may not be perfect either, but Ynoa has the stuff to prove that with the proper guidance and delicate usage, though his best days may be behind him, he still has quite a bit of value to offer.

Lead photo courtesy of Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

Right-handed reliever Michael Ynoa has been called up as his replacement and will be the 15th different relief pitcher (including J.B. Shuck) used by the Sox this year if he actually gets to throw a pitch this time (he was called up in April, but the game was rained out and he was sent right back down). Ynoa is years removed from his prospect heyday, once ranking as high as 20th in all of baseball before the 2009 season according to Baseball Prospectus. He never managed to make it past A ball as a starter in the Oakland A’s farm system before coming to the White Sox and being converted to a reliever. Ynoa’s only 24 years old, so there’s still a chance his big fastball and inconsistently dangerous curveball could turn into useful bullpen weapons but his combined numbers in AA and AAA this year make it seems like more seasoning couldn’t hurt (2.00 K/BB, 3.9 BB/9).

Minnesota, which went 13-6 against the White Sox in 2015, is off to a terrible start to the season, coming off back-to-back road sweeps against the Orioles and Royals, respectively. Their offense is hitting just .210/.282/.346 in the early going, and youngsters Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton have combined to for just six hits and 22 strikeouts between them. Couple that with newly-acquired Korean Byung-Ho Park‘s three hits (but with one home run) and 11 additional strikeouts, and you get the makings of, well, an 0-6 record.  Sunday’s loss was particularly devastating, involving a blown lead, and culminating in a wild pitch-fueled extra innings defeat.

Starting Monday’s home opener for Minnesota is Kyle Gibson, who had a disastrous debut to 2016, walking five, allowing seven hits and four earned runs in a loss to the Orioles last week. Gibson fits in well in the Twins’ stable of soft-tossing, strikeout-deficient pitching staff, as he’s whiffed just 5.9 hitters per nine innings during his career. In 2015 he was unbelievably effective against the White Sox, however, as in four starts he allowed just four earned runs in 29.2 innings with 23 strikeouts and just two walks.

After his Sunday start was postponed, Jose Quintana will get his second start of the season Monday and will look to continue the White Sox’ string of their starters giving up three earned runs or less. In his first start against Oakland last week, he went 5.2 innings (the shortest outing by a White Sox starter through six games) and allowed just two earned runs while striking out seven and walking zero.

Adam Eaton is back after missing Saturday’s game because of the birth of his first child. He was placed on paternity leave for Sunday’s game, with reliever Michael Ynoa called up to take his place. We hardly knew ye, Ynoa.

White Sox Lineup

With Eaton back, Ventura has opted to bump Austin Jackson back down to the 9-slot, although he has certainly looked promising at the plate so far this season.  Perhaps we can chalk up Ventura’s intention to start Jerry Sands against a RHP on Sunday up to a weird situation – players constantly exposed to brutally cold weather, Eaton gone for the birth of his child, etc.  I don’t blame Ventura for wanting to get everybody on the 25-man some playing time, but this would have been his second attempt to do so with Sands against right-handed pitching.  Hopefully that fit of madness has passed, but it is a reminder that Ventura is prone to bouts of inexplicable tactics, and the presence of Rick Renteria may not be enough to stop it.  We dodge the bullet at the outset of today’s game, at least.

Top Photo Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports