The White Sox have recalled left-handed pitcher Tanner Banks from Triple-A Charlotte. Jesse Sholtens was optioned back down to Charlotte in a corresponding move. Banks’ promotion comes just ahead of a series with the Baltimore Orioles, a lineup that features plenty of lefty bats.
The White Sox have shown they are not messing around this season. Jose Ruiz was quickly DFA’d after a slow start to the season. The front office is continuing to shuffle the deck in the hopes of finding some consistency. With Garrett Crochet still on the shelf, the White Sox bullpen needs some more quality left-handed relievers. At the moment, Aaron Bummer is the only reliable left-handed arm that manager Pedro Grifol has at his disposal.
At one point, Banks was one of the only left-handed relievers in the White Sox bullpen last season before Rick Hahn acquired Jake Diekman at the trade deadline. He put up respectable numbers, posting a 3.06 ERA and 1.132 in 30 appearances. The 30-year-old rookie also logged 49 strikeouts and walked just 18 batters. His success was one of the few feel-good stories from last season.
Banks had a remarkable climb to the big leagues since being drafted in the 18th round of the 2014 June First-Year Player Draft. His max velocity sat around the high 80s, so he had to rely on pinpoint command and deception to get hitters out. He first touched the low 90s during a bullpen session in Spring Training of 2020. Slowly but surely, he had to prove he could consistently get hitters out at every level.
In 2015 he was named a Pioneer League All-Star. In 2016 he led all White Sox farmhands in wins, was tied for fifth in strikeouts, and ranked sixth in ERA. MiLB.com named him an organizational All-Star, while the South Atlantic League named him a midseason All-Star for his work with Class A Kannapolis.
That’s when things began to get tougher. In 2017 he posted a combined 4.28 ERA in 141 innings with Winston-Salem and Birmingham. However, the following season he struck out 100 batters in 126.2 innings between Class AA Birmingham and Triple-A Charlotte and posted a 2.59 ERA. That was still not enough to earn him a full-time job in Triple-A.
In 2020 worked with former White Sox pitcher a current rehab pitching coach Donnie Veal to help him add a little extra heat to his fastball. Veal was able to help take the stress off of Banks’ elbow and anchor his feet to the ground to help him drive through the rubber.
His first full season in Charlotte would not come until 2021. It was at this point the organization realized he was more cut out to be a relief pitcher. He had a 3.94 ERA out of the Knight’s bullpen compared to a 6.94 ERA as a starter. Part of the problem was Banks was learning new mechanics to try and blow hitters away. This was a far cry from how he was used to getting hitters out. He struggled with command for a bit but still managed to average 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings.
With the extra velocity, he could throw his four-seam fastball up in the zone and build off it with his slider, changeup, and curveball. This helped him turn some heads in the White Sox organization.
After a gradual seven-year climb through the White Sox farm system, he finally made his MLB debut in 2022. After receiving the promotion to the big leagues, he broke down into tears as he dialed his wife’s phone number to tell her the good news. Being a 30 year old rookie is considered unusual in the MLB. But for Banks it was better late than never.
He was optioned to Charlotte before the start of the season but all it took was a 1.80 ERA in five innings to get called back up. The White Sox hope Banks can provide some stability to a pen that has been mired in mediocrity so far in 2023.
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