According to James Fegan of The Athletic, the White Sox have signed right-handed reliever Bryan Shaw to a minor-league deal with a non-roster invite to camp.
Shaw is a 12-year MLB veteran who has spent seven of those seasons with the Cleveland Guardians. The White Sox are very familiar with Shaw. The 35-year-old has logged heavy innings this past decade, leading all American League pitchers in appearances on four separate occasions. Shaw has pitched in 60-plus games in 10 of his 12 years in the show. In fact, he has played in 70-plus games seven times.
The long-time Guardians reliever quickly emerged as Terry Francona’s favorite arm out of the bullpen. After spending five years in Cleveland, from 2013-2017, he made a stop in Colorado for a pair of seasons, then a brief stint in Seattle during the shortened 2020 campaign.
Cleveland brought back 2021, and Francona proceeded to use him every chance he could, calling on the right-hander in a league-high 81 games. Shaw owns a career 3.92 ERA in 714.2 innings, with 637 strikeouts, a 1.335 WHIP, and a 4.6 WAR. Those are respectable numbers, but it is fair to wonder if the volume of innings is beginning to take its toll.
Shaw is coming off a brutal 2022 campaign that saw him post a 5.40 ERA in 58.1 innings of work. The Guardians removed him from the 40-man roster in the last week of the regular season.
There wasn’t a whole lot that the Long Beach native had going for him. His strikeout rate was in the MLB’s 28th percentile, according to Baseball Savant. Meanwhile, his was in the 19th percentile, chase rate in the fifth, and walk rate in the 22nd. Handing out a free pass a 10 percent of batters all batters faced isn’t a recipe for success for a relief pitcher who can’t strike anybody out.
Shaw’s cutter averaged 92 mph and wasn’t fooling anybody. Neither was his sinker, slider, or curveball. Opponents squared him up for the fourth-highest average exit velocity, tenth-highest hard hit percentage, 21st-highest expected slugging percentage, and 23rd-highest expected slugging percentage. His curveball spin ranked in the 18th percentile.
Shaw joins a collection of relievers Hahn has brought in on minor-league deals. All of them have terrible walk rates, but Shaw seems to be one of the only ones that don’t throw hard. However, Shaw is the one with a sustained track record of success in the MLB.
When asked about why he chose to sign with the White Sox, Shaw gave a refreshingly honest answer.
“They called and gave me a job,” Shaw told reporters.
He will have the opportunity to compete for a roster spot in Glendale. The White Sox are looking for added bullpen insurance with Liam Hendriks on the shelf for the foreseeable future.
