The White Sox have signed right-hander Kyle Tyler to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He has been assigned to the Arizona Complex League for now but will presumably head to Triple-A after a few ramp-up outings.
Tyler, 28, elected free agency a week ago after being outrighted by the Orioles. He never actually pitched for that club at the big league level. The O’s claimed him off waivers from the Phillies and kept him on optional assignment. He never pitched for the Phils either, as the Phils claimed him from the Marlins and kept him in the minors as well. He has spent a lot of the past month in DFA limbo, having been cut by both the Phils and O’s in recent weeks. He has only pitched twice in that span, which is presumably why he’s heading to the complex, to build back up.
The Marlins gave him his most extended big league look, as he logged 31 2/3 innings for them last year. Prior to that, he had brief showings with the Angels and Padres. Put together, he has 48 big league innings with a 4.31 earned run average. His 15.9% strikeout rate and 12% walk rate are both subpar figures, though he has a strong 48.3% ground ball rate.
His minor league work is naturally greater in both quality and quantity. From 2021 to 2024, he logged 330 1/3 innings on the farm, mostly as a starter. He had a 4.74 ERA in that time with a 23.7% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate. This year, his results haven’t been quite as impressive. His 4.18 ERA is fine but his 15.4% strikeout rate is a big drop.
The White Sox don’t have much long-term certainty in their rotation. Aaron Civale and Adrian Houser are the most experienced arms but both are impending free agents who are likely to be traded this month. Shane Smith, Sean Burke and Jonathan Cannon have the other three spots and no one in that trio has even 200 innings of big league work. Jesse Scholtens could be coming off the injured list soon but he only has 85 major league innings on his track record. Owen White is on the 40-man but he has a 5.13 ERA in the minors this year.
The Sox have some non-roster options in Triple-A. They have signed Mike Clevinger and Noah Syndergaard to minor league deals. Yoendrys Gómez and Bryse Wilson were passed through outright waivers earlier this year. But on the whole, there’s not a ton in Tyler’s way if he shows something positive in the coming months. Potential trades and injuries could widen the path even more. He is in his final option season but has less than a year of major league service time.
Photo courtesy of Bill Streicher, Imagn Images