On Thursday, the White Sox announced their long-awaited 30-man Opening Day roster for the 2020 season. It consists of 16 pitchers, three catchers, seven infielders and four outfielders. None of the four outfielders are Nomar Mazara, who was placed on the injured list. Former top prospect Carson Fulmer was designated for assignment and will have to pass through waivers to remain with the organization.
— Chicago White Sox (@whitesox) July 23, 2020
PITCHERS
While the bulk of the pitchers assigned to the big league club have experience or were expected to make the club from the get-go, there are a few surprise additions to the team. Codi Heuer and Jimmy Lambert were added to the major league team, to aide the 14 other arms.
Both Heuer and Lambert were on FutureSox’ preseason Prospect Top 30, ranking 16 (Lambert) and 24 (Heuer). The two right-handers are prime examples of “life comes at you fast.” In the preseason, neither was really on the radar to contribute on the major league level, though Heuer’s excellent spring training put him more firmly on the radar than before. After excellent showings during Summer Camp over the last few weeks, both have now made the big-league club.
Here’s what we wrote about Lambert in our preseason top 30:
Lambert had a breakout year in 2018, succeeding at both Winston-Salem and Birmingham. He did so with K/9s above 10 at both levels. Last year was on track to see more of the same from Lambert. […] Turns out, Lambert needed Tommy John surgery. He had the surgery in late June, which means he will miss the start of 2020 as well. If he had stayed healthy, he’d likely be making his MLB debut this year. Now, the 25-year-old is just looking to get back on track.
With regards to Heuer, we wrote:
Heuer asserts himself emphatically in our White Sox top 30 for the first time following a 2019 season that cannot be ignored. In his first full year as a professional, Heuer earned a promotion to Birmingham and proved he was up for the challenge. The 23-year-old notched a 1.84 ERA and nine saves across 22 appearances as a Baron.
RE-ASSIGNMENTS
Of the other pitchers who were part of Summer Camp (and whose name is not Carson Fulmer), only Ian Hamilton was re-assigned to Charlotte. The rest of the group, consisting of Dane Dunning, Drew Anderson, Tayron Guerrero and Tyler Johnson, was re-assigned to the Schaumburg Training Facility as part of the taxi squad.
Heuer and Lambert complete a staff otherwise consisting of starters Lucas Giolito, Dallas Keuchel, Reynaldo Lopez, Dylan Cease, and Carlos Rodon, and long-men/bullpen arms Gio Gonzalez, Ross Detwiler, Aaron Bummer, Jace Fry, Steve Cishek, Jimmy Cordero, Kelvin Herrera, Alex Colomé and Evan Marshall.
POSITION PLAYERS
The omission of infielder Nick Madrigal, who was also assigned to Schaumburg, is probably the biggest attention-grabber for fans (sorry, Yermin Mercedes). Instead of adding Madrigal – our No. 4 prospect in the preseason – to the group of infielders, the White Sox opted to keep Danny Mendick and Cheslor Cuthbert around for the start of the season. Leury Garcia is also listed by the White Sox as an infielder, though the 29-year-old will also see time in the outfield. José Abreu, Tim Anderson, Edwin Encarnacion and Yoan Moncada complete the rest of the infield group.
The assignment to Schaumburg by no means ends Madrigal’s chances of seeing big league action in 2020, as he could be up sooner rather than later anyway. The current delay appears once again to be service time related. A call-up around July 31st would give the White Sox an additional year of control over the lightning-fast second baseman.
THREE CATCHERS
Even though the Sox decided to head into the season with three catchers, none of them were named Yermin. The Spring Training fan favorite was also assigned to Schaumburg. Yasmani Grandal and James McCann will be backed up by our preseason No. 7 prospect, Zack Collins. We wrote the following in our preseason Top 30 about the backstop:
Collins ended last season in Chicago slashing .186/.307/.349 in 102 plate appearances. There has been significant debate about whether the on-base percentage machine will break camp with the team again in 2020. With major activity at the MLB level this offseason, he’d be relegated to the third catcher/backup 1B/DH role. At 25 years old and having proven himself in Triple-A, this may be the best landing spot for him. Otherwise, he could begin the season in Charlotte to further his defensive development. Regardless, expect him to surface in Chicago at some point this season.
Despite still probably being relegated to third catcher/backup 1B/DH, Collins could be able to stick around once rosters are trimmed in a couple of weeks. Left-handed power bats are in short supply, and Collins looked very good at the plate during Summer Camp. It may require some roster juggling, but with a good two-week stretch, the 25-year-old may be around for a while.
Mazara’s absence in the outfield paves the way for the re-introduction of Nicky Delmonico to White Sox fans. The 28-year-old completes an outfield collective of Adam Engel, Eloy Jimenez and (of course) Luis Robert. The addition of Delmonico means that both Luis Basabe and Luis Gonzalez have been re-assigned to the taxi squad.
TAXI SQUAD
Speaking of the taxi squad: there are two names we have not yet mentioned in this article of players who were assigned to Schaumburg. The (by far) most important one is Andrew Vaughn. The first baseman drew rave reviews during Summer Camp, and he showed that he is not far off the major league track. Our No. 3 prospect in the organization seemed to be able to keep up with big league pitching just fine. Though he will not see Birmingham in 2020, for obvious reasons, Vaughn may just be able to make it to Chicago if the cards fall his way.
The final name we have not mentioned? Ryan Goins. The veteran infielder logged 163 plate appearances with the White Sox in 2019, but was granted free agency after the season. After being released by the Oakland Athletics on July 19th, he re-signed with the White Sox and was assigned to Schaumburg as well.
Photo credit: Sean Williams/FutureSox
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So where IS Yermin headed?
It’s in the embedded press release, but I’ve added it to the article as well. Thank you for reading.
Since 3 people travel with the team, that means that Yermin will travel since one of the 3 has to be catcher.
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