The White Sox announced that right-hander Jose Ruiz has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Class-A Winston-Salem. The move drops Chicago’s 40-man roster to a total of 39 players.
The ChiSox picked up Ruiz, 23, off waivers from the Padres back in December after San Diego designated the converted catcher for assignment. Ruiz somewhat surprisingly made the sizable leap from Class-A Advanced to the Majors in 2017 season, though he only threw a single inning with the Padres’ big league club. He tossed a career-high 49 2/3 innings in 2017 with the Padres’ Class-A Advanced affiliate, struggling to a 5.98 ERA but also 8.2 K/9 against 4.5 BB/9.
Ruiz averaged better than 95 mph on his heater in his lone MLB inning, though he obviously has a ways to go in terms of honing his control and further gaining experience on the mound before he emerges as a viable big league bullpen option.
