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Crain to be placed on the DL; Deunte Heath to be called up

Deunte Heath. (Jim Margalus / South Side Sox)
Deunte Heath. (Jim Margalus / South Side Sox)

With the White Sox placing RHP Jesse Crain on the disabled list Wednesday with what is described as a subscapularis strain, the White Sox will be calling up RHP Deunte Heath, their eighth rookie on the pitching staff.

Heath has been very good for Triple-A Charlotte. In 22 games, he's thrown 42⅓ innings, given up 31 hits, walked 10 and struck out 46. He has started three games, including his past two appearances, both of which lasted four innings. It is expected that he will be making the start on Sunday in Chris Sale's place in what may be a bullpen game for the White Sox.

The 26-year-old signed with the White Sox in April 2010 after being released by the Atlanta Braves, partially due to ineffectiveness but mostly due to off-field issues related to a prostitution sting.

Heath has a good mid-90s fastball and he pairs it with a decent slider. He has always generated his fair share of strikeouts but, until recently, lacked anything resembling control. In his first two seasons in the White Sox organization, first at Birmingham and then at Charlotte, his BB/9 was above 5.0. This season, he's cut it to 2.1 per nine innings.