White Sox feeling good about getting Nastrini, Lee in Friday's trades; blank Guardians 3-0

There was some genuine excitement about the prospect haul in 2016-17, when White Sox general manager Rick Hahn decided to blow up an underachieving veteran team and start from scratch.

This time around, the anger level running through the Sox's fan base is overshadowing the young talent Hahn has accumulated in trades for Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, Lance Lynn, Joe Kelly and Kendall Graveman.

The playoff window that was once wide open has been slammed shut. The future can wait.

"Given the type of season we had, it makes sense to improve our future at the cost of the current '23 club," Hahn said Friday. "We have mixed feelings and some disappointment involved in trading guys like Lance and Kendall and Joe. However, a great deal of excitement certainly at our end of the building about the prospects we received in exchange."

In addition to getting veteran outfielder Trayce Thompson from the Dodgers for Lynn and Kelly, the White Sox got minor-league pitchers Nick Nastrini and Jordan Leasure.

Nastrini, 23, was rated Los Angeles' No. 9 prospect. The 6-foot-3, 215-pound righty was 5-3 with a 4.03 ERA in 17 starts for Class AA Tulsa.

"We think he's got a really good chance of being a real solid mid-rotation type starter, with the potential ceiling of more," Hahn said. "We're really excited about this guy. This is a real solid, four-pitch mix, athletic kid, good delivery and a command of four different pitches. We're excited to get him."

Leasure, 24, was 2-2 with a 3.09 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 35 innings of relief with Tulsa.

The 32-year-old Thompson has been on the injured list since June 4 with a strained left oblique after hitting .155/.310/.366 with 5 home runs and 14 RBI in 36 games for the Dodgers.

Thompson was drafted by the White Sox in 2009 and he played for the Sox in 2015 and '18.

In the Graveman trade, the White Sox acquired catcher Korey Lee, the No. 5 prospect in the Astros' organization.

Lee, 25, hit .283/.328/.406 with 5 home runs and 32 RBI with Class AAA Sugar Land. He's currently on the injured list with a strained right oblique but should playing with Class AAA Charlotte next week.

Lee and Sox first baseman Andrew Vaughn were college teammates at Cal-Berkeley.

"Very strong catch-and-throw type," Hahn said. "Good leader on the field, high energy. He was roommates with Andrew Vaughn. Andrew Vaughn and I had a conversation earlier today about Kory and about his potential fit and makeup and Andrew had nothing but very positive things to say."

White Sox 3, Guardians 0:

Lucas Giolito was supposed to start for the White Sox against Cleveland Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.

That obviously didn't happen after he was traded to the Angels Wednesday, so Touki Toussaint stepped in.

Claimed by the Sox after the Guardians placed him on waivers in late June, Toussaint pitched 5 strong innings against his old team, giving up 3 hits to go with 4 strikeouts.

"I thought I threw the ball well," Toussaint said. "Attacked some hitters, I think I had 1 walk. Gave up some hits but there wasn't any damage."

Luis Robert and Jake Burger led the White Sox's offense with solo home runs.

For Burger, it was No. 25, a 450-foot blast to center field.

"It's huge," Burger said of his 25th homer. "It's kind of what I said when I hit my 20th, it's a steppingstone to the next goal. It obviously feels good but I want to get to the next milestone."