When the White Sox sent Aaron Bummer to Triple-A following a June 2 loss to the Brewers, it was a bit surprising. In 26 appearances to that point, Bummer had thrown 19 1/3 innings with 21 strikeouts against just six walks and a respectable 3.26 ERA. Still, the underlying numbers told us he was fairly lucky in the small sample size, as despite all that he was allowing a .321 opponent batting average, giving up 27 hits during that span. He rejoined the big club in September to worse results, allowing eight runs in just 12 1/3 innings. But still, his K/BB was fine in the small sample with 14 whiffs against just four walks, and it’s those numbers worth focusing on. Bummer still figures to be someone the White Sox hope to count on in their bullpens of the future — along with the likes of Ian Hamilton, Ryan Burr, and Jace Fry — and his ability to consistently throw strikes and show some swing-and-miss potential is his most obvious route to a spot with the team long-term.

Tyler Danish

After five years of trying to turn their former second-round pick into a viable mid-rotation starter, the White Sox put Danish in the bullpen for the majority of 2018. The results were … underwhelming. In 71 2/3 innings at Triple-A, Danish was fine from a results perspective, but he still doesn’t miss enough bats — or throw enough strikes, period — to warrant much excitement, posting just 53 strikeouts against 28 walks. Danish made seven appearances out of the White Sox bullpen in late July and August, tossing just 6 1/3 innings, giving up 5 earned runs with 5 strikeouts and 4 walks. At 25 by the start of next season, the hope for Danish becoming anyone worth rostering at the major league level has almost completely faded out.

Danny Farquhar

Everyone knows, of course, that Farquhar’s biggest victory of 2018 was fully recovering from a terrifying brain aneurysm that could have cost him much more than his baseball career. Farquhar threw only 8 innings for the 2018 White Sox, and an in-depth interview with The Athletic’s James Fegan revealed his progress in working toward a successful return in 2019. Here’s hoping we see Farquhar in a White Sox uniform — or any major league uniform, for that matter — next season.

Thyago Vieira

Adding a player like Vieira for what he cost to acquire is something any reasonable team does. The White Sox couldn’t spend any notable amount of IFA money after last year’s signing of Luis Robert and thus traded some to the Seattle last season during the Mariners’ pursuit of Shohei Ohtani. The scouting report on Vieira was that he had electric velocity but didn’t seem to have any clue where it was going. And let’s just say that checked out pretty well. Vieira struggled in Triple-A during the first half of the season, posting a 5.05 ERA with 50 strikeouts and 24 walks in 41 innings. He spent the last two months of the season in Chicago and 7.13 ERA in 17 2/3 innings. Vieira is probably the kind of guy who keep around in case one day he “figures it out.” But he doesn’t have any place in a major league bullpen at the moment.

Lead Photo Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

The cost-benefit analysis here for the White Sox becomes whether guys like Yeyson Yrizarri and Vieira are worth more than what they could have landed by adding additional $300K and below international free agents, and even years down the line it’s very hard to identify what that would have looked like in order to make that comparison. But the temptation of Vieira is obvious. Listed at 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, the Brazilian just turned 24 and made a one-inning major league debut with the Mariners at the end of 2017, and the guy throws really, really hard.

As you might imagine, guys on the verge of the majors who touch triple-digits don’t get dealt for IFA pool money unless the rest of the profile has problems, and Vieira’s does. He doesn’t really have a secondary pitch, and his command is suspect. Glancing at the stat line, it appears that minor league hitters haven’t been able to convert his command problems into home runs, but the walk rate and strike out rate are both worse than you’d like.

White Sox fans can hope for a Matt Thornton or Tommy Kahnle outcome; those are examples of a best case scenario with this type of player. The “Coop’ll fix ‘em” slogan has captured the organization’s greatest strength over his lengthy career as White Sox pitching coach.  But for all that Don Cooper is one of the best at what he does and has worked miracles in the past, there are limits to what even he can do, and it’s not an accident that 99th percentile outcomes like Thornton and Kahnle were acquired a decade apart. Chris Beck throws hard (okay, like 94-97 instead of the 97-101 that Vieira has registered) and has been in the organization his entire professional career and last year he was one of the worst pitchers in the majors. Mike MacDougal happened.

Moreover, the trade went through at the last possible minute such that he would be eligible for consideration for the “Next Ten” on the White Sox 2018 Prospects list and our prospect team chose to leave him off. He would likely be near the top of the 20-30 range, although I’m not even sure I’d put him as the next guy up, ahead of say, Ryan Cordell or Jordan Stephens.

So that’s throwing cold water on the excitement. All of that said, the more clay you give to Cooper to mold, the more chances you have at striking oil, to mix metaphors, and one suspects that Vieira isn’t the guy they ask for in this deal unless they have some sort of plan for how that could be done, which is an encouraging thought. And, given that 2018 is another rebuilding year, Vieira will likely break camp with the team and have plenty of chances to get innings against major league hitters, giving them plenty of time to make adjustments and evaluate what they have before they start playing meaningful games again.

And, it’s a lot more fun to watch a young guy who touches 102 work in a losing season than it is to see a retread act as a placeholder.