The White Sox re-signed right-hander Dan Altavilla over the weekend, as reflected in his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The righty pitched an inning and two thirds for Triple-A Charlotte yesterday.
Altavilla, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Sox in the winter. He tossed 9 2/3 innings for them during the spring, allowing three earned while striking out 11 opponents, issuing four walks and hitting two batters. He didn’t break camp with the club and opted out of that deal but has now circled back to the Sox on a fresh contract.
The righty has some capable big league work on his track record, though it’s been a few years since he complied the bulk of it. From 2016 through 2020, he tossed 114 2/3 innings for the Mariners and Padres. He had an ERA of exactly 4.00 in that time, with a strong 26% strikeout rate but also a high walk rate of 12.3%.
But he has thrown only five big league innings since then. Tommy John surgery in the summer of 2021 wiped out most of that year and the subsequent season. In 2023, he was with the Red Sox on a minor league deal but his results weren’t strong and he didn’t get a call-up. He made it back to the show with the Royals last year but landed on the injured list with a right oblique strain after just five appearances. When he was healthy, he was bumped off the roster as opposed to being reinstated.
The Sox have a pretty inexperienced bullpen. Mike Clevinger is the only reliever on the active roster with more than five years of service time. He has spent most of his career as a starter and is only now making the move to full-time relief. Swingman Bryse Wilson is the only other guy with at least four years of service while only Penn Murfee is also over the one-year line.
It’s understandable why a rebuilding club like the Sox would want to try out young arms to see what happens but some of them will surely struggle or simply get hurt. In short, there should be opportunities available for Altavilla throughout the year if he can stay healthy and somewhat effective.
Photo courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea, Imagn Images