At first glance, the Phillies’ trade for outfielder Austin Hays from the Baltimore Orioles is not all that exciting.
Despite making the All-Star team last year, the right-handed hitting outfielder is not a superstar or at least a burgeoning one, like the White Sox’s Luis Robert Jr.
His game does not explode off the screen–in more limited action this year than in years past, Hays is hitting .248 with just three home runs in 165 plate appearances. So no, Austin Hays as a player is not inherently exciting–but what he could mean for the team in 2024 is. Hays was brought in to fill a gaping hole in the Phillies’ battered and weary lineup: a righty-hitting outfielder. His services cost the team, Cristian Pache and Seranthony Dominguez, opening another hole in the bullpen and starting a conversation around playing time.
How will Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas be used now that Hays is on the roster?
The initial assumption was that Hays, who positively crushes left-handed pitching–batting .328 with a .894 OPS in 72 at-bats this year–would platoon in left field with Marsh, who hasn’t hit left-handed pitching whatsoever this year.
There is a simple truth to Hay’s acquisition: the Phillies are not comfortable, especially in the postseason, with Marsh and Rojas’ ability to start in the outfield every day.
Marsh, for all of his lovability and defense versatility, cannot hit lefties to save his life. Rojas, who was sent down to AAA earlier this year, cannot hit any pitcher regardless of which hand throws the ball.In October, the Phillies will invariably face a gauntlet of left-handed pitching.
Sox also called up an infielder to fill Grossman’s roster spot
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Chicago White Sox have traded outfielder Robbie Grossman to the Texas Rangers in exchange for a right-handed pitching prospect, according to a press release from the team Wednesday.
The White Sox are receiving Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa, a relief pitcher with the Rangers’ Double-A affiliate, the Frisco RoughRiders. In 12 relief appearances so far this season, Hoopii-Tuionetoa is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA, one save, 16 strikeouts and one unearned run over 12.1 innings pitched.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Hoopii-Tuionetoa ranks among the Texas League relief leaders in ERA (1st), WHIP (2nd), opponents average (2nd, .167), strikeout-to-walk rate (3rd, 4.00), strikeouts per 9.0 IP (7th, 11.68) and strikeouts (8th).
He has been assigned to the roster of Class AA Birmingham.
A native of Wailuku, Hawai’i, Hoopii-Tuionetoa was named a 2022 MiLB organizational All-Star after going 4-3 with a 3.09 ERA, eight saves and 67 strikeouts in 36 games for Single-A Down East in his first full season.
Hoopii-Tuionetoa is 9-7 with a 3.15 ERA, 18 saves and 146 strikeouts in 83 career games over four seasons and 103 innings pitched in the Rangers organization.
He originally was selected by Texas in the 30th round of the 2019 First-Year Player Draft out of Pierce College in Washington.
Grossman, who was signed as a minor league free agent back on March 22, is hitting .211/.329/.268 with four doubles, four RBI’s, 13 walks and six runs scored over 25 games with the White Sox this season.
For Grossman, it’s a return to a team he played for last year and an opportunity to receive his World Series championship ring a little bit early. In 115 games for the Rangers in 2023, Grossman slashed .238/.340/.394 with ten home runs, 23 doubles and 49 RBI’s.
Since Hoopii-Tuionetoa has been assigned to Double-A and Grossman is now in Texas, Chicago also purchased the contract of Zach Remillard from the Triple-A Charlotte Knights to fill Grossman’s roster spot.
Remillard has appeared in two games with the White Sox in 2024, going 1-5 with a run scored. He was designated for assignment back on April 22.
If your offense is struggling, a series against the Chicago White Sox is the perfect remedy. Over the weekend in South Philadelphia, the Phillies swept the Sox, improving their record to 14-8 as they’ve won their sixth-straight game. Watching the standings in April is certainly premature, but, hey, the Phillies are currently a Wild Card team in the National League. They’re right where they need to be.
Here are my five awards from the series, highlighting everything from Alec Bohm to the iconic Phillie Phanatic…
The “Twice As Nice” Award: Alec Bohm ✌️
In Friday’s Phillies victory, Alec Bohm smacked a three-run home run in the first inning:
Two innings later, he hit another three-run homer:
Bohm showcased some true power there, going opposite field on the first blast and then driving his second home to deep left center. He could be on his way to replicating the 20-homer, 97-RBI campaign he posted in 2023.
The “Almost No-Hitter” Award: Spencer Turnbull and Zack Wheeler ❌
How about this Phillies rotation right now? Spencer Turnbull is only getting starts due to other pitching injuries, but he has a 1.23 ERA across four starts so far in 2024. In Friday night’s 7-0 win, Turnbull pitched 6.1 innings before allowing his first hit of the night. He finished out the inning for an evening of seven scoreless frames. Huge.
Taijuan Walker is making rehab starts and is on his way back to the majors to re-join the rotation, but can you really take Turnbull and move him to the bullpen with the way he’s pitching? It’s undeserving to either Turnbull or Cristopher Sánchez (2.53 ERA in four starts, 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings).
Optics could play a role here. Walker, despite struggles at times in 2023, is in the second year of a contract worth $72 million. Would the Phillies really make him the longman in the bullpen? It feels doubtful. Why not trot out a six-man rotation for a bit and see how that goes?
The next day, another Phillies starter flirted with a no-hitter. Cy Young Award candidate Zack Wheeler pitched 7.1 innings of no-hit baseball. He currently leads the majors in strikeouts. Elite stuff.
Wheeler’s phenomenal performance aired simultaneously as Game 1 of the Sixers’ first round matchup with the Knicks on Saturday night. It conjured up images of 2010 when Roy Halladay tossed a perfect game while the Flyers were playing in the Stanley Cup Finals against Chicago. It was a bit of a double whammy, however, as Wheeler wasn’t able to finish out the no-hitter and, of course, the Sixers lost in crushing fashion.
The “Crushing the Vibes” Award: Ricardo Pinto 🤦
Saturday was a breeze for the Fightins. They threw up a crooked number on Chicago, scoring nine runs. Wheeler took a no-hitter into the eighth inning. In what should’ve been an easy-as-anything ninth inning, things quickly took a turn for the worse.
In some mop-up action, the Phils turned to Ricardo Pinto for the top of the ninth with a nine-run lead. Pinto proceeded to allow five runs. He exited the game with the tying run coming up to the plate. Again, they began the inning with a nine-run lead. Nine! When it matters most, Pinto won’t be out there on the mound, but it did leave a bitter taste for what should’ve been a complete beatdown.
The “They Swept a Little League Team” Award: Phillies 🤣
This turn of events from the White Sox looks more like a Babe Ruth League team from 7th and Bigler than a major league ball club:
“Yakety Sax” should be played over that video. The Phils tied the game after that and never looked back in an 8-2 victory.
The “This Should’ve Been the City Connect Look” Award: Phanatic hats 🧢
With its atrocious font and clash of colors, the Phillies’ City Connect uniforms have been panned. A look celebrating the greatest mascot in all of sports, the Phanatic, would’ve been much better. Phils fans saw what might have been when the team wore their batting practice Phanatic caps on Sunday in honor of the mascot’s birthday.
10/10 cap. At the very least, these should replace the current red and blue caps the team wears with their cream uniforms.
During his birthday festivities, we received an update on the Phanatic’s dating history, too:
I’d love to hear what the Kelce brothers have to say about that!
CHICAGO — While the Chicago White Sox added another tally to the loss column on Monday, it was still an evening that begged the question, “How can you not be romantic about baseball?” — Especially in the cases of Nick Nastrini and Jordan Leasure.
The two rookie pitchers both made appearances on the mound Monday — Nastrini his Major League Baseball debut as a starting pitcher, and Leasure his sixth appearance out of the White Sox bullpen so far this year.
“It was an out of body experience. It was everything I hoped it to be,” Nastrini said after the game, smiling from ear-to-ear. “I don’t really have a whole lot of words to describe it because there’s not really words I can use to describe it. That’s how fun it was.”
Nastrini ended up going five full innings while giving up two runs on three hits and two walks to go with five strikeouts.
Leasure pitched a 1-2-3 scoreless frame in the top of the seventh, keeping his ERA at a flat 0.00 through six games and 6.1 innings pitched in 2024.
It should be the first of many times the two share a mound in a White Sox uniform.
“I was just texting some of my friends, telling them I feel like a proud big brother,” Leasure said postgame. “That was really special for him and it was special for me to be able to be there with him.”
Nastrini and Leasure were the two prospects who came over at the 2023 deadline in a trade that saw Chicago send Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to the Los Angeles Dodgers for them and Trayce Thompson.
Leasure made his major league debut on March 30 against the Detroit Tigers, but the two share a history that spans back several years in the minor leagues.
Both were selected by the Dodgers in the 2021 MLB amateur draft and followed similar ascents through the Los Angeles farm system, playing together in the Arizona Complex League (rookie ball) and at Rancho Cucamonga (Low-A) in 2021, all the way up to Tulsa (Double-A) and eventually Charlotte (Triple-A) when the two were traded to Chicago in 2023.
For Nastrini, who had an 11-person contingent at the ballpark cheering him on Monday, those five innings were the culmination in a long grind that included everything from working within the parameters of professional baseball, to playing catch and throwing extra bullpen sessions with friends and family to get him right along the way.
“My buddy Noah out there, I play catch with him every day during the offseason. My brother Jake, he catches my bullpens,” Nastrini said. “It makes me a little emotional talking about it. He catches my bullpens with no gear on — He’s out there taking spiked sliders to the shins for me during COVID and times after that too.
“So, having my dad, my mom, my sister, they’re my biggest support system. My friends and family mean the absolute world to me so, it meant a lot to have them out there.”
White Sox manager Pedro Grifol remarked after the game that Nastrini’s presence stood out as far back as a fan fest event at Guaranteed Rate Field in January. At the time, Grifol said Nastrini threw a bullpen and in the moment, he could tell “that’s what good ones look like.”
“It was an emotional day for him … But I thought he was as expected — Under control, good presence, pounded the strike zone, think he retired the first 11 [batters],” said White Sox manager Pedro Grifol. “He left a pitch out over the plate for [Vinnie] Pasquantino and a seeing-eye single by [Kyle] Isbel, other than that, I thought it was a really good outing.”
CHICAGO — When Chicago White Sox fans show up to the ballpark this evening to watch them take on the Kansas City Royals, they’ll see one of their better pitching prospects making his Major League Baseball debut. So, the question remains, who is Nick Nastrini?
A product of John Savage’s baseball program on the West Coast at UCLA, Nastrini comes with plenty of talent to warrant palpable hype around his MLB debut since being acquired in a 2023 deadline trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers for Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly.
Whether it’s MLB.com, Baseball America, The Athletic, Baseball Prospectus or ESPN, all five publications rate Nastrini as one of the White Sox’s top pitching prospects, and the White Sox saw plenty of that talent during Spring Training in Arizona back in March.
Nastrini pitched in five games, making three starts, while posting an 0-1 record with a 3.77 ERA in 14.1 innings pitched with 11 strikeouts and nine walks.
When it comes to stuff, there’s a lot to like about Nastrini. He’s got a fastball that sizzles up to 98 miles-per-hour, with three plus-off speed offerings that keep batters off balance and leads to plenty of strikeouts.
Nastrini posted a 29.7% strikeout rate against lefties, and a 26.1% whiff rate against righties between Double-A and Triple-A in Chicago and Los Angeles’ farm systems last year.
Overall, Nastrini notched a 9-5 record with a 4.08 ERA in 25 starts last season. Those numbers came in tandem with 139 strikeouts compared to 54 walks in 114.2 innings pitched.
The only knock on Nastrini, and what has prevented him from becoming a truly elite pitching prospect across MLB, is a lack of firm control over his pitching repertoire.
As the stats have already hinted at, walks have gotten him into trouble at various points in his minor league career, but the stuff has outshined his lack of control to the point he is now making his MLB debut for the White Sox.
The Chicago White Sox start a three game series at home Monday against the Kansas City Royals, with first pitch set for 6:40 p.m. Central Time on Jackie Robinson Day.
FORT MYERS, Fla. — Liam Hendriks is still with the Sox, but the color will be changing.
Hendriks, a 13-year veteran reliever, is leaving the White Sox after three seasons to join the Boston Red Sox, according to a Boston Herald report. A Red Sox source confirmed to the Herald that Hendriks will join the team on a two-year, $10 million deal, pending a physical, with a mutual option for a third season.
The Red Sox made the addition to their bullpen Monday morning before their first full-squad workout of spring training, the Herald reports.
Hendriks, 35, has a 3.82 ERA and 116 saves, with a WHIP of 1.195 and 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings, spanning 13 seasons with five teams, all in the American League. He’s a three-time All-Star.
Hendriks signed with the White Sox in free agency prior to the 2021 season and was named an All-Star with the club in both 2021 and 2022.
Hendriks finished his White Sox tenure with a 14-7 record, 76 saves, a 0.875 WHIP and 13.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He made 132 appearances and worked 133.2 innings for the South Siders.
*Video above is from a WGN story on new renderings of the White Sox proposed new stadium before this article was published.
CHICAGO — A new report Friday revealed that not only will Chicago White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf pursue roughly a billion dollars in funding from the City of Chicago and State of Illinois for a new baseball stadium in “The 78,” he’s confident the team will get it.
According to Crain’s Chicago Business, Reinsdorf and Related Midwest President Curt Bailey, the developer behind The 78 site where the stadium would be built, have had meetings with a number of elected officials and leaders in the Chicago business and labor world to gauge interest before meeting with Governor JB Pritzker to propose a deal, which Crains said is bullish on being able to sell the argument stadium subsidies will bring billions in private investment, while also being structured so that no new or increased taxes are required.
Crains said the stadium itself would be subsidized through a $500 million city TIF district that already covers the site, but the White Sox and Related Midwest have stressed the importance of additional private investment — mixed-use buildings that would feature affordable housing, bars, restaurants and shops, as well as an underground parking garage and parks, hence the intended ask of nearly $1 billion in total public funds from the state, which includes the $500 million TIF subsidy from the city.
While the combined ask from the state and city is nearly half of the White Sox’s current valuation ($2.05 billion in 2023, according to Forbes), Crains said the proposed deal would also get Chicago off the hook for being the guarantor of the current debt arrangement between them and the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority (ISFA) to pay for the remaining balance on the Chicago Bears’ 2003 renovation of Soldier Field.
The ISFA is a government entity created by the Illinois state legislature in 1987 for the purpose of constructing and renovating sports stadiums for professional sports teams in Illinois. As a part of business dealings since, the ISFA became the owner and developer of the White Sox’s current stadium, Guaranteed Rate Field, and financier of the Chicago Lakefront Development Project, which included the 2003 renovation of Soldier Field.
The ISFA issued $150 million in bonds in 1989 to build Guaranteed Rate Field and later issued $399 million in bonds to pay for the aforementioned renovations to Soldier Field.
To pay for the new Sox Stadium planned in The 78, Crains said Reinsdorf is seeking to lay claim to the revenue from a 2% hotel occupancy tax, which is currently used to pay for the ISFA’s annual debt service, for decades after when all outstanding bonds are currently meant to be paid off in 2034.
Extending the ISFA bonds over 30 years while adding a new line of revenue back to the debt, Crains said, would provide the upfront capital to begin work on the stadium in The 78.
Crains said Reinsdorf is also seeking to create a tax overlay district surrounding the proposed stadium in order to capture the state’s portion of sales taxes generated around it, which is estimated at around $400 million over an undisclosed period, which would be set aside to subsidize the stadium and back the news bonds created by the deal.
With the sales tax revenue included in said deal, that would allow the ISFA to borrow more money, according to Crains, which a source told them would get to roughly $1.2 billion in assistance sought by Reinsdorf to build the ballpark and retire the current ISFA debt.
This is all dependent on state approval though.
“While Related Midwest and the Chicago White Sox have assured us the existing Chicago hotel tax that funds sports facilities, along with other revenue sources, would be sufficient to fund the ballpark, our priority is protecting the hospitality and visitor industry,” said Michael Jacobson, president of the Illinois Hotel and Lodging Association, in a statement provided to Crains.
Does this put the Bears in a pickle?
Crains said another interesting factor is that the deal could oust the Bears from tapping into the ISFA to pay for a new stadium, if they continue to pursue staying along the lakefront in the city.
Crains said a source familiar with both teams and their stadium plans told them the two are not working together to find stadium deals, but are in competition for Illinois’ limited amount of public dollars dedicated to new stadiums.
Since the ISFA issued the $399 million in bonds for the Soldier Field renovations, Crains said $384 million in principal still remains outstanding, meaning the ISFA has — for the most part — only made interest payments the last two decades and faces a tricky road toward repaying the debt on those bonds.
The ISFA’s main stream of revenue comes from the previously mentioned 2% hotel occupancy tax and annual $5 million payments from the city and state.
With hotel tax revenue seeing a steep decline over the last three years — due to the global pandemic and subsequent recovery efforts not reaching pre-pandemic levels — the state has provided advanced payments to the ISFA to cover annual debt service, which the ISFA then repaid from its tax revenue later on, if possible.
Over the last three years when that process didn’t cover the repayments needed, the difference was taken from Chicago’s share of state income taxes.
Add in the fact that, according to Crains, Chicago could be on the hook for increasingly large payments to compensate for the debt service shortfall — subsequent refinancing is set at $55 million this year, with it set to rise to $90 million by 2033 — it could likely become increasingly hard to find funds for Soldier Field maintenance and improvements because no matter whether the Bears stay at Soldier Field, move to Arlington Heights, or build a new stadium along the Chicago lakefront, the ISFA will still be on the hook for the debt service.
