The White Sox announced four additional roster moves on Saturday after making five on Friday. They are as follows:
- Added RHP Aaron Civale to the active roster;
- Recalled 1B Ryan Noda from Triple-A Charlotte;
- Optioned 1B Tim Elko to Triple-A Charlotte;
- Optioned LHP Tyler Gilbert to Triple-A Charlotte.
Civale, 30, was traded to the White Sox on Friday as part of a deal that sent Andrew Vaughn to the Brewers. In 22 innings with the Brewers this season, Civale owns a 1-2 record across five starts with a 4.91 ERA. He will likely have a relatively unimpeded opportunity to get back into the starting rotation, as he prefers, especially with Jonathan Cannon currently on the injured list with a lower-back strain. This move prevents the White Sox from needing to rush Cannon back while filling his spot.
Getz also told the media on Friday that a six-man rotation could be a possibility for the team. If this comes to fruition, a fully healthy rotation could feature Sean Burke, Davis Martin, Jonathan Cannon, Adrian Houser, Aaron Civale, and Shane Smith. This could be beneficial for the inexperienced arms, such as Smith, who has never surpassed 94.1 innings in a season.
As part of a corresponding move, lefty Tyler Gilbert will head to Triple-A Charlotte after throwing two scoreless innings of relief on Friday night. It marked his first appearance since suffering an MCL sprain in his left knee around the time of May’s Crosstown Classic. Gilbert owns a 4.20 ERA across 15 innings so far, and figured to serve as a lefty option out of the bullpen until his demotion.
Additionally, the White Sox are making a change at first base. The newly claimed Ryan Noda will soon see his first MLB game action since September of last year. A former 15th-round pick in 2017, Noda has already made stints with the Triple-A affiliates for both the Angels and Red Sox this season. He’s hitting just .204/.404/.375 with seven homers and 21 RBI across 51 total games between the two teams. Noda will likely walk a fair share and strike out a decent amount, though he comes with some intriguing power potential if able to tap into it. Miguel Vargas also figures to be a candidate to slide back over to first and see some reps there as well.
Elko, 26, finds himself on the other end of this move as he’s struggled to adjust to major league pitching in his two stints with the team. The former Ole Miss product is hitting just .155/.222/.379 with four home runs and a 65 wRC+ over 63 plate appearances. Though the 18-game sample size is still rather small, Elko has looked overmatched and owns a 38.1% strikeout rate compared to a 7.9% walk rate. He’ll look to continue his development in Charlotte before seeing another opportunity later this season.
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