Bernardo Flores Jr. was claimed off waivers by the St. Louis Cardinals the White Sox announced on Thursday afternoon. The 25-year-old southpaw pitched in two games for the White Sox in 2020 and made his major league debut.
Flores was selected in the 7th round of the 2016 MLB Draft out of USC. The 6-foot-4, 190-pounder improved his control and command in the system but his stuff ticked down from his time with the Trojans. In 2019, Flores posted a 3.77 ERA over the course of 78.1 innings with the Birmingham Barons in Double-A. In our preseason top 30 prospects list, we ranked Flores at No. 25. The southpaw projects as a possible fifth starter in the big leagues, but most likely will find a home in middle relief.
MLB Pipeline ranked Flores as the No. 21 prospect in the White Sox system in their most recent update. He possesses a fastball that sits in the 90-93 mph range with “riding action and quality command.” There’s also a “fading, low 80s changeup” that shows as Flores’ best offering. The lefty throws two average breaking balls as well. Flores generates weak contact for the most part, but he doesn’t miss many bats and strikeouts won’t be a significant part of his plan on the mound.
Flores has a cult following and he’s very active on social media. He is a fan of baseball history and he’s detailed his experiences as a member of the White Sox organization. He discussed the Rickwood Classic and what it meant to him with James Fegan of The Athletic back in 2019.
The White Sox haven’t commented, but the organization was clearly trying to slide Flores through waivers by outrighting him to the alternate site to serve as major league depth. He has minor league options remaining and will report to the Cardinals’ alternate site. There could be a big league future for the former seventh rounder but it clearly won’t be with the White Sox.
We have claimed LHP Bernardo Flores Jr. off waivers from the Chicago White Sox.
— Cardinals Player Development (@CardsPlayerDev) April 1, 2021
Flores, 25, has been added to our 40-man roster and assigned to our Alternate Training Site.
With this addition, our 40-man roster now stands at 40. pic.twitter.com/tUfXWof5oz
The club also announced that Nik Turley, who was recently designated for assignment, has cleared waivers and will report to the club’s alternate site. Adam Engel and Jace Fry were placed on the 10-day injured list and Eloy Jimenez on the 60-day injured list. Those moves made room on the Opening Day roster for outfielder Billy Hamilton and former third overall pick Andrew Vaughn.
The White Sox 40-man roster is full.
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If the White Sox had truly valued Bernardo Flores Jr. they didn’t need to DFA him to clear a roster spot for either Andrew Vaughn or Billy Hamilton. They could have placed Jace Fry on the 60-day IL retroactively back to when he was diagnosed with his injury early in camp. Instead the team decided to place Fry on the 10-day IL along with Adam Engel. Fry is not expected to return to the active roster until mid-May anyway which would have allowed him to spend the necessary 60 days on the IL while keeping Flores Jr. on the 40-man roster.
They should have kept him. He isn’t ideal but could work as long relief and also spot start. He could be a 5th starter. He was throwing strikes, which is better than some of the flame throwers.