Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Duke Ellis

White Sox Designate Tim Hill For Assignment

By | at

The White Sox announced today that outfielder Andrew Benintendi and right-hander Steven Wilson have been reinstated from the injured list. In corresponding moves, outfielder Duke Ellis was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte while left-hander Tim Hill was designated for assignment.

Hill, 34, signed with the White Sox in the offseason on a one-year deal with a guarantee of $1.8MM. The Sox were surely hoping that the experienced groundballer could provide a veteran presence to the club while also perhaps turning himself into a midseason trade chip.

Unfortunately, the results haven’t quite been there for Hill so far this year. He has made 27 appearances for the Sox but has an earned run average of 5.87. That’s obviously not a great number, but it’s possible that Hill has been more unlucky than bad.

His 11% strikeout rate is less than half the league average, but that’s not terribly unusual for him. He only struck out 12.6% of batters faced with the Padres in 2022, a season he finished with a 3.56 ERA. His 8.5% walk rate this year is right around league average while his 65.6% ground ball rate would actually be a career high, as his previous best was a clip of 61.8% in his rookie season.

The major difference in Hill this season seems to be a .436 batting average on balls in play. That’s well beyond the .286 league average and Hill’s career number of .310. ERA estimators like FIP and SIERA have Hill at 3.44 and 3.87 respectively, suggesting it’s possible he’s been closer to his previous form than it would appear at first glance, as he had a 3.72 ERA from 2020 to 2022. His exit velocity and hard hit numbers are roughly in line with previous seasons as well.

It’s possible the club’s poor defense isn’t doing him any favors, as the Sox have a collective -51 Defensive Runs Saved this year and -20 Outs Above Average. That DRS tally is the worst in the league while the OAA number in tied for last with the Marlins.

The Sox will now have one week to trade Hill or pass him through waivers. It’s possible that he could garner interest if some clubs are willing to overlook the earned runs this year and focus more on the underlying metrics. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he has more than enough service time to reject an outright assignment while retaining his salary.

White Sox Activate Luis Robert, Place Tommy Pham On IL, Designate Zach Remillard

By and | at

The White Sox announced a series of roster moves today, reinstating outfielder Luis Robert Jr. from the injured list, recalling outfielder Zach DeLoach and selecting the contract of outfielder Duke Ellis. In corresponding moves, outfielders Tommy Pham and Dominic Fletcher have each landed on the 10-day injured list, Pham due to a left ankle sprain and Fletcher due to a left shoulder strain. Both moves are retroactive to June 3. The Sox also designated infielder Zach Remillard for assignment. James Fegan of Sox Machine reported the Ellis news on X earlier today.

Robert returns to the roster after missing nearly two months with a Grade 2 strain of his right hip flexor. He hit .214/.241/.500 in 29 plate appearances before sustaining the injury while legging out a ninth-inning double. It’s a suboptimal way to kick off his follow-up to last year’s sensational year, which saw the five-tool standout bat .264/.315/.542 with 38 homers, 20 steals and plus center field defense in a career-high 145 games.

The return of Robert will add some direly needed talent to a White Sox club that has overwhelmingly been the worst in MLB this year. Chicago’s .250 winning percentage is miles behind the 29th-ranked Marlins’ mark of .350. The ChiSox are slam-dunk sellers at this year’s trade deadline, and if healthy, Robert will command plenty of attention himself. However, he’s signed at a bargain rate through the 2027 season, and trading a player with MVP-caliber talent and three-plus seasons of club control left is almost unheard of. Other clubs will surely make an effort, but it would likely take one of the largest trade returns in recent MLB history for the Sox to make the move.

Pham, 36, is a far more logical trade candidate. If healthy, he’s perhaps the single most obvious and likely player in all of MLB to be moved leading up to the deadline. The 11-year veteran is playing on a $3MM base salary on his one-year deal and is out to a strong .280/.331/.402 start to his season (110 wRC+). He posted a similar .256/.328/.446 line in 481 plate appearances between the Mets and D-backs a season ago. Pham may not have the speed or power he possessed in his late 20s and early 30s, but he remains a talented hitter who can capably handle the outfield corners (even if he’s been miscast as a center fielder in Chicago with Robert on the injured list).

Fletcher, acquired in an offseason trade that sent pitching prospect Cristian Mena to the D-backs, has managed only a .173/.253/.227 output in 84 plate appearances. That pales in comparison to last year’s .301/.350/.441 showing in his MLB debut effort with Arizona. The Sox briefly optioned him to Charlotte but recalled him recently after he hit .238/.319/.405 in 11 games. For a 26-year-old whom the Sox hoped could be a controllable piece for them, Fletcher has received curiously sparse playing time since his recall. Manager Pedro Grifol has given Fletcher just 18 plate appearances over the past three weeks, during which he’s collected only one hit.

Ellis, 26, is hitting .258/.341/.308 (102 wRC+) in 39 Double-A games this season but has already racked up an enormous 34 stolen bases. Opponents have managed to catch him only one time thus far. Throughout his minor league career, he’s turned in worrying strikeout rates and displayed minimal power (career-high eight homers), but he’s also swiped 117 bases with an 88.9% success rate. Though he’s not considered one of the White Sox’ top prospects, Ellis clearly possesses high-end speed.

The Padres selected Ellis out of high school with their 20th-round pick in 2017, but he instead opted to attend Panola College in Carthage, Texas. He’d have been eligible for the 2020 draft, but that year’s event was shortened to five rounds during the pandemic-impacted season. He wound up signing with the White Sox as an undrafted free agent and has steadily climbed their ranks.

This will be the second DFA of the season for Remillard, who made his MLB debut as a 29-year-old rookie last season. He’s hit .250/.304/.322 in 199 big league plate appearances since that time but has struggled to a lifeless .114/.192/.157 slash in 19 Triple-A games this year. He cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Charlotte following his last DFA and is a candidate to do so a second time.

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows scroll to top