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Friend of SSS Scot Gregor tweeted out some first cuts from Chicago White Sox camp:
White Sox roster moves:
— Scot Gregor (@scotgregor) March 6, 2018
Optioned OF Charlie Tilson and RHP Thyago Vieira to Class AAA Charlotte and RHP José Ruiz to Class A Winston-Salem.
Reassigned INF Jake Burger, RHP Dylan Covey, C Alfredo González, LHP Jordan Guerrero and RHP Michael Ynoa to minor-league camp.
Charlie Tilson hasn’t struggled, per se, but strong play from Adam Engel, Ryan Cordell and Jacob May in center renders Tilson a bit superfluous in the big camp right now. (Leury Garcia, though not swinging the bat as well as the other three, is also in the mix for CF as part of his Swiss Army arsenal.) Factor in wanting to get extended looks at Luis Robert and Luis Basabe, and this makes sense.
Dylan Covey has pitched pretty well this spring, (2.70 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 2.00 GO/FO ratio), but his rough 2017 (0-7, 7.71 ERA — yes, that’s 60 earned runs in 70 innings, -1.4 WAR) is a lot to overcome. Other pitchers in Covey’s neighborhood, like Jordan Stephens, Rob Scahill and Chris Volstad have pitched as well or better. Plus, there are intriguing young arms like Michael Kopech, Dylan Cease and Dane Dunning, and old/new pieces who are a better big club fit like Hector Santiago.
The reassignments of Thyago Vieira, Jordan Guerrero and Michael Ynoa are setbacks. None were ticketed for prominent roles breaking camp, but the quick hook down to Charlotte isn’t what anyone hoped for.