The 2024 White Sox are a dumpster fire from the front office to the Major League ball club. They are the worst team in the Major Leagues by a wide margin and they struggle to score a run, even against some of the most mediocre pitching in the big leagues. They also have some subpar talent on the mound, as there are a few guys in the rotation that are truly fighting for their Major League careers.
However, this was expected. The White Sox acquired these players in the offseason and we knew about their shaky track records in the MLB. Most figured that they likely wouldn’t be playing very well. But, we didn’t think that Chris Getz would choose these struggling veterans over younger players that came up and performed well while they were up, but that is exactly what Chris Getz is doing. This is extremely puzzling and malpractice by Chris Getz.
Today, the White Sox announced that they have optioned their #8 ranked prospect Nick Nastrini down to AAA, as they activated reliever John Brebbia. This is insane, as Nastrini only started two games for the White Sox. He made his major league debut against the Kansas City Royals and had a fantastic debut.
He went five innings, giving up just two runs, striking out five and walking two. He showcased his major league stuff against a very solid MLB team, even striking out Bobby Witt Jr. a few times.
However, he would struggle against the Phillies in his second start, as he gave up five earned runs in three innings. He still struck out three batters, but he did not have his best command, as he walked five batters. This was a tough assignment for Nastrini, as the Phillies have one of the most dangerous lineups in all of the Major Leagues. But to make it worse, the White Sox defense played horrible behind him. While it still wasn’t a great start by Nastrini, the White Sox defense made it harder on Nastrini.
The fact that he was the one optioned to make room for Brebbia makes zero sense. He would have made the team out of Spring Training if he didn’t have Pneumonia, and he pitched well enough in his first start to get an extended look. Meanwhile the White Sox will continue to trot out Mike Soroka, who has a 7.50 ERA over his first five starts, and Chris Flexen who has a 6.75 ERA. Both of these players will be free agents and not on the team next year, yet Chris Getz is choosing them over a highly rated prospect who showed promise.
If Soroka and Flexen were pitching well, it would make sense to keep them out there, as they could be trade bait at the deadline for the White Sox, but at this rate, nobody will want them. To make matters worse, it’s not great for a young pitcher to keep going back and forth between AAA and the MLB.
Nastrini earned himself at least a few more starts before you send him down. He can’t work through his major league struggles in AAA, as the hitting is not nearly as good. This team is horrible, let the young guys figure it out here rather than in AAA.
On top of this move, the White Sox burned an option on Oscar Colas after they called him up, as he just got one pinch hit at-bat and then they sent him down the next day. They sent him down in favor of Zach Remillard, who they just DFA’d today. There was no reason to send Oscar down after one game for another player when you could have just called that player up instead of him. It makes it 100x worse that the player is now DFA’d just 10 days later.
Chris Getz needs to figure this out and let the young guys play. I think I speak for all the fans when I say that watching younger prospects play is a thousand times more enjoyable than the veterans who are horrible, even if the younger players are struggling. If Chris Getz keeps this up, nobody is going to watch the games, even on TV.
Reindorf, Getz, and the pitching coach should be removed. Chicago deserves so much better; it is shameful.