White Sox GM Hahn happy with prospects acquired in Soria trade
Chicago White Sox general manager Rick Hahn made five trades last July, clearing out seven veteran players and bringing in 10 prospects.
There's not much veteran talent left to deal, but Hahn was pleased about getting minor-league pitchers Kodi Medeiros and Wilber Perez from the Brewers Thursday for 34-year-old relief pitcher Joakim Soria.
Medeiros was Milwaukee's first-round draft pick (No. 12 overall) in 2014. The 22-year-old lefty was 3-3 with a 2.04 ERA in 20 appearances (15 starts) with Class AA Biloxi.
Medeiros joins AA Birmingham in the Sox's system, and it looks like he'll be a starter.
"He is someone that we believe has a real chance to start in the long term," Hahn said. "We've talked about how there are a few members of the pitching prospect group, the starting pitching prospect group, some of who are going to wind up being front-end type starters and some of who are going to wind up rounding out the rotation and some of who are going to wind up being weapons for us in the bullpen.
"Medeiros goes right into that mix, and we'll see what the next few years hold for him. It's nice also to fill the balance out a little bit, left-handed versus right. We obviously don't have quite as many advanced left-handed pitching prospects as we do righties, and this helps balance that out."
Deep thoughts:
Reynaldo Lopez had another rough start in the White Sox's 10-5 loss to the Blue Jays Friday night at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Not only did the right-hander give up 8 runs on 7 hits and 4 walks in 4⅓ innings, Lopez was tagged for 5 home runs.
Toronto wasted little time clearing the fences. Curtis Granderson led off with a home run on Lopez's second pitch and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. homered on the third pitch.
"I wasn't feeling good with all the focus I need to be effective, and they took advantage of it," Lopez said through a translator.
In addition to becoming just the second player in franchise history to allow 5 home runs in a game, Lopez has given up 8 in his last 3 starts.
"He really wasn't hitting his spots, it's as simple as that," said manager Rick Renteria, who along with pitching coach Don Cooper was ejected in the first inning. "His pitches, fastballs, have been up and coming back over the plate."
Making his second relief appearance of the season, designated hitter/infielder Matt Davidson took the mound in the ninth and pitched a scoreless inning. Davidson also pitched 1 scoreless inning at Texas on June 29.
New guys:
After trading Joakim Soria to Milwaukee and designating Chris Volstad for assignment, the White Sox brought up right-handed relievers Tyler Danish and Thyago Vieira from Class AAA Charlotte Friday.
Both pitched in the Sox's loss to Toronto.
Making his White Sox debut, Viera was wild while allowing 2 runs on 1 hit in two-thirds of an inning. He hit 2 straight batters.
Danish had 2 strikeouts over 1 scoreless inning. Over the last two seasons, he was 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA in 4 games (1 starts) with the Sox.
"There's some confidence," Danish said. "I don't think I was mentally ready before. The first time I got called up from Double-A (Birmingham in 2016), I was surprised and I don't think I was mentally ready to handle it. Now this being my third time I think I have a grasp how things go, what you have to do up here to be successful."