The dismantling of the 2023 Chicago White Sox continued today, as pitchers Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly were traded to the Dodgers in exchange for Nick Nastrini, Jordan Leasure, and Trayce Thompson. Lynn and Kelly last teamed up Wednesday night, as they combined to give up six runs in the top of the fifth in the loss to the Cubs.
The White Sox acquired the 36-year-old Lynn prior to the 2021 season, where he helped lead the team to an AL Central title, earned an All-Star nod and finished top three in AL Cy Young Award voting, and signed a three-year contract extension. A knee injury limited him to 21 starts in 2022, and hampered his performance when he did pitch, as he saw his ERA soar by nearly one and a third runs. This year has been a mixed bag, as some of his peripheral numbers show that he should be doing better than he has, but his ERA is well over 6 and he’s set a career high for home runs allowed, and we aren’t even to August yet.
Joe Kelly, signed as a free agent prior to the 2022 season, has not seen much success during his tenure on the south side. Injuries hampered him in 2022 as he posted a career-worst 6.08 ERA. He has seen better results in 2023, but still sports an ERA of 4.97 while spending more than his fair share of time on the IL.
On the return side, Nick Nastrini, a 23-year-old right-hander, appears to be the prize in the deal. The Dodgers fourth-round pick in 2021, he reportedly has the stuff to be a starter in the big leagues if he can reign in his command. He was 5-3 with a 4.03 ERA in 17 starts Double A. Jordan Leasure was a 14th-round pick in 2021 and has been closing in Double A this year, compiling a 3.09 ERA with nine saves. He’s averaging 14.4 strikeouts per nine innings, but has had issues keeping the balls that are hit in the ballpark, giving up more than one and a half homers per nine innings. Trayce Thompson, who made his major league debut with the White Sox back in 2015, is currently on the 60-Day IL and was likely included just to give the Dodgers salary relief.
The White Sox are now down two pitchers from their starting rotation for the remainder of 2023, with indications a third, Mike Clevinger, may be moved as well if he proves healthy enough coming off the IL this weekend. Who eats those innings for the rest of 2023? Your guess is as good as mine.
After a disappointing (to put it mildly) April, the White Sox looked to shake things up in May, making eleven roster moves prior to yesterday’s game. To put this into perspective, reassigning eleven players at one time during spring training would be highly irregular. Making eleven roster moves on one day during the regular season is unheard of. Twenty percent of the active roster changed! In one day!
After winning a Wild Card slot in 2020 and running away with the Central Division title in 2021, the White Sox looked like an easy lock to make a third straight post-season appearance this October. Unfortunately, something (or somethings) went wrong along the way and after a long season where nothing ever seemed to click, the team was officially eliminated on Sunday after dropping six straight against the Guardians and the Tigers. So where did things fall apart? Let’s take a deeper look.