White Sox Add Another Pitcher To The Mix

Chris Getz has remained busy today as he has made his second move. This time Chris Getz has added to the rotation once again. According to the MLB transaction wire, the White Sox have added Chad Kuhl on a minor league contract.

Last year, Kuhl spent time with the Washington Nationals and the year prior he pitched for the Colorado Rockies. Kulh is mainly known for his time with the Pittsburgh Pirates, whom he came up with in 2016 as a rookie.

At this point in his carrer, Kuhl is not very good. Last year over 38.1 innings Kuhl had an 8.49 ERA. This was good for a -1.3 WAR. The year prior in Colorado he had a 5.72 ERA over 173 innings. Safe to say the last two years have not gone his way.

Kuhl pitched his best in Pittsburgh from 2016- 2021, missing 2019 with Tommy John surgery. In the five years with the Pirates, 4.44 ERA over 439+ innings. He mainly started for them and was a decent back of the rotation arm for them. The problem is he has only pitched over 100 innings twice in his seven year career, which is not something you are looking for someone who is mainly a starter.

Despite the lower ERA for the Pittsburgh Pirates, his underlying stats aren’t that great. He gets hit around a solid bit, as his lowest batting average against came in the shortened 2020 season, where it was .212. Besides that, it has never been lower than .252 and sits at .270 for his career. This is not great, as he is giving up a lot of hits, which is never a good thing. He keeps the walks to a minimum, but it is worth noting that in the 2020 season, where his opponents average was the lowest, his BB/9 was the second highest in his career, sitting at 5.44.

Last year his BB/9 was a very bad 6.57 to go along with a .313 batting average against and a 1.9 WHIP. Let’s hope last season was an anomaly, as it seems like he had no control of his pitches. If he is closer to the pitcher everyone saw in Pittsburgh, this could be a decent depth signing, but if he is anywhere near last year, this could be disastrous.

I understand the importance of signing players to minor league deals to address depth at the position. There is also a chance that Kuhl never suits up for the White Sox, but the White Sox have a lot of arms rising in the upper minors and if Kuhl takes an opportunity away from them, then that is bad management by Chris Getz.

At this point in his career, we know what Kuhl is. If this is strictly to fill a spot in the AAA rotation, then this is okay. But, if there is a chance that Kuhl is pitching for the White Sox, something has gone terribly wrong as they already plenty of depth with 8+ arms, all likely better than Kuhl.

I would much rather see guys like Davis Martin, Nick Nastrini, Sean Burke, Shane Drohan, Jake Eder- young guys that need to get an opportunity instead of veterans who have been bad for the last few years. Not to mention the Sox already have a good amount of major league rotation depth with Chris Flexen, Touki Toussiant, and Jesse Scholtens, all of whom are better than Kuhl.

At this point, Kuhl slots behind all of those pitchers. Let’s just hope that it stays that way and it remains a minor league deal, as this season should be used to figure out what young guys can actually play. Nothing against Kuhl, but at this point in his career and where the White Sox are at, they need to prioritize playing time for younger prospects, rather than veterans.