White Sox

White Sox Could be in Southpaw Trey McGough’s Future

By / / Affiliate Visits, Minors

The most surprising deal of the deadline by the White Sox came late as they sent Eloy Jimenez to Baltimore in exchange for left-handed reliever Trey McGough. He didn’t have to move much as Triple-A Charlotte was hosting Norfolk, the Triple-A affiliate of the Orioles, which allowed McGough to simply switch dugouts in Charlotte and meet his new teammates as a member of the White Sox’s organization.

Deadline trade to the White Sox

“I knew there was a chance…it was a little bit of surprise but the trade deadline happens and you never know what to expect so you to roll with it” McGough said of being dealt right at the deadline to the White Sox. Adjusting to a new clubhouse with less than two months in the year is challenging and particularly in a situation where much of this core has been developing together.

McGough was open about the fact that it is a lot to handle but having been a former Rule 5 draft guy, he has been through this once already. “I’ve experienced it once and the easiest to do is just be yourself and be genuine and who you are. In this atmosophere, it’s usually accepted pretty well. The guys are great, team is great, but yeah it’s interesting. It’s like moving to a new school” McGough expanded on adpating to his new team.

While managing the challeneges of adapting to playing in Charlotte, McGough’s performance has been lights out as he has thrown eight shutout innings with just two total hits allowed. He earned a spot on Sleepy Harold’s Trending on the Farm as well.

As a left-handed arm out of the bullpen, McGough is exceptional agaisnt left-handed hitters and has really been great against everyone throughout his year between Double-A and Triple-A. Through 32 apperances at two levels and for three teams, McGough has posted a 1.73 ERA and 0.91 WHIP across 62.1 innings.

He dove into each of his pitches with me and explained how he has been able to succeed on the mound this season.

Arsenal for White Sox Southpaw

“Knowing situations and trying to stay within myself. My job as a pitcher, with the way I pitch is getting ahead and throwing strikes” McGough explained as he talked about the keys to his success this year. His demanor is straightforward and he really locks in on attacking the zone.

One pitch has emerged as a developmental key for his arsenal. “I’ve been devloping that [changeup] all year through games and in bullpens as well. Since I had TJ, I’ve been messing around with changeups. I’ve tried a split change, kick change, regular change. They were all working but it’s about what the most comfortable pitch for me is and what I can throw most consistently.”

He has stuck with a traditional change and it has helped elevate his pitch mix against batters on both sides of the plate. Beyond the changeup, McGough utilizes a pair of breaking balls with both serving a unqiue purpose for him.

Throughout the majority of his baseball career, McGough primarily utilized his curveball but has gained confidence with his slider of late particulary this season. “I’ve had a lot of succes with it recently and the confidence is there with it,” said McGough of his slider. “Knowing how the game has changed, it’s turned into what situations I can use them” he continued to elaborate on when to use each breaking pitch.

White Sox

He provided some context as to how he mixes and matches each offering depending on the circumstances of the batter.

“Spencer Torkelson was a guy throughout the week that wasn’t doing well with offspeed pitches, especially early, so that was a time when I can just flick that curveball in knowing my usage on the curveball isn’t very high so that’s almost like an auto-take because they’re not seeing it often,” explained McGough about an at-bat this week against the former 1st overall pick.

He continued to break down how the slider has worked in his favor particularly against likehanded left-handed hitters. McGough continued, “Against lefties my usage with my slider is pretty high…using that to my advantage where I might throw it three times because they’re expecting at least one or two and then time I face them I may not throw it at all.”

Versatility of using pitches in various scenarios is a strength of McGough’s game that he has leaned into as he develops. While it’s his primary weapon against left-handers, I asked him about working in the slider against opposite-sided batters which is a challenge for many pitchers.

“It’s been a steal pitch against righties where I start it as a ball and bring it in. If you’re throwing it in the zone and it’s breaking into a righty, yeah they might do a lot of damage. But if you’re able to set up that pitch, whether it’s throwing a fastball inside or a changeup away, now you can change that lane to where I start that slider starting inside and breaking in off them where they have to respect it because I just start threw one on that same tunnel,” elaborated McGough.

Potential Option for White Sox

This in-depth explanation shows his thought process with the sequencing on his offerings that can be seen in appearances of his on the mound. McGough’s blend of approach depending on the hitter is noticable and he has seen excellent results across the board this season.

The 6-3, 195 pound lefty was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 24th round of the 2019 MLB Draft out of Mount St. Mary’s University. The 26-year-old was acquired by the Baltimore Orioles in 2023. The White Sox are playing out the string in Chicago and McGough could be a candidate to pitch on the 2025 team. 40-man implications likely play a role however.

Given the results in the White Sox bullpen, the recently-acquired left-hander should get a shot to pitch in the big leagues soon. He has shown that he’s ready to pitch at the MLB level and should get the promotion in the near future.