The White Sox announced that left-hander Tyler Alexander has been signed to a Major League contract, worth the MLB minimum salary. To create roster space, the Sox placed left-hander Jared Shuster on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to June 5) due to a blister on his throwing hand, and southpaw Fraser Ellard was moved from the 15-day to the 60-day IL.
Alexander’s stint on the open market didn’t last long, as it was just two days ago that the southpaw rejected the Brewers’ outright assignment in favor of free agency. Milwaukee signed Alexander to a one-year, $1MM contract in February, but designated him for assignment last week after he posted a 6.19 ERA over 36 1/3 innings and 21 appearances for the Brew Crew. His 4.26 SIERA is more forgiving, as Alexander’s ERA was inflated by a .331 BABIP and an absurdly low 47.2% strand rate (far below the 71.7% league average). He also had a respectable 7.3% walk rate, but struck out batters at only an 18.3% clip.
A team with fewer pitching options might have kept Alexander around as a swingman or long relief arm, but the Brewers have gone from being drastically thin on rotation options to a borderline surplus of arms now that some of their injured hurlers have returned to action. While Alexander’s results weren’t much to speak of, his ability to eat some innings and make a few spot starts helped the Brewers navigate that early-season pitching shortage.
Alexander will now take on a depth role with his hometown team, as the left-hander was born in Chicago in 1994 before moving on to play his high school and college ball in Texas. Alexander joins Brandon Eisert and Cam Booser as the southpaw options in the White Sox bullpen, and he might be in line for the occasional start as the Sox continue to try and solidify their rotation. Jonathan Cannon went on the 15-day IL earlier this week due to a back strain, and Chicago has cycled through a number of rotation candidates while trying to fill the void left by Martin Perez’s possibly-season-ending flexor strain.
Shuster technically made two “starts” working as an opener in his most recent two appearances before going on the IL. Shuster has struggled to an 8.04 ERA over 15 2/3 innings and 12 games for the Pale Hose this season, with the caveat that eight of his 14 earned runs allowed came in just two of those appearances. In some echoes of Alexander’s season, Shuster has a 4.21 SIERA, with a 55.9% strand rate and a .429 BABIP spoiling his bottom-line numbers.
Ellard had a 6.75 ERA in 6 2/3 relief innings for Chicago this season, as his season has been largely spent on the sidelines due to two separate IL stints. A hamstring strain cost Ellard most of April, and he returned to pitch in only two games before he was placed on the 15-day IL in early May due to a lat strain. The shift to the 60-day IL means that Ellard can’t return to action until at least July.