The Chicago White Sox are slowly promoting their prospects to the major leagues, with Chase Meidroth and Edgar Quero being the first to get promoted to the show. The next prospect that could get called up by the White Sox given their injuries could be Jairo Iriarte, who has already debuted, or Grant Taylor, who is tearing it up at Double-A.
The White Sox will need to find an arm for the rotation, as Martín Pérez has been placed on the 60-day injured list, and his innings need to be accounted for. Not only do the White Sox have the task to find someone to fill in for them in their rotation, but they also need to find more players to provide them with more offense and run production.
The White Sox have someone down in the minor leagues who can provide them with the thump and power they desperately need, but they appear to be making excuses on why they’re not bringing up the offensive force.
The Chicago White Sox front office appears to be making excuses for not calling up Tim Elko
In Scott Merkin’s Newsletter that he released, he got the chance to interview the White Sox director of player development, Paul Janish, and Elko’s former teammate with the Knights, Bobby Dalbec, who recently was called up to the big league club. In Merkin’s Newsletter, Janish’s quotes appear to be making excuses as to why they’re not giving Elko a chance in the big leagues, as he puts it, Elko is a “victim of circumstances”.
Janish quotes from Merkin’s Newsletter:
“This game is a little bit of you are a victim of circumstances with regards to opportunities,” Janish said. “He’s waiting for his opportunity. Tim understands that as well as anybody. If and when that opportunity comes, which hopefully it will, we dang sure know he’s going to show up and give us what he’s got. Hopefully, he plays well when he gets that opportunity.”
Even though the White Sox haven’t called up Elko he knows that he’s playing well, Elko’s former teammate in Dalbec said that he has a “good head on his shoulders”.
Janish quotes from Merkin’s Newsletter:
“He’s got a good head on him,” Dalbec said. “Excited to see what he’s going to do in his career.”
Why it’s time for the White Sox to give Elko a chance
The White Sox need to stop beating around the bush and call up Elko, as he has nothing more to prove down at the minor-league level. In 17 games, Elko has been hitting out of his mind with having a slash line of .361/.443/.607 for an OPS of 1.050.
The 26-year-old first baseman’s power has been on display to begin the Triple-A season, as he has four home runsin 61 at-bats, which with Dalbec’s recent promotion, puts him as the Knights leader for home runs. This power production, at a position that requires power, is what the White Sox need, given Andrew Vaughn, who has been the White Sox’s primary first baseman for this season, has gotten off to a cold start and has provided little to no power.
Will Venable has been reluctant to name a primary designated hitter because he wants to utilize the DH spot to give guys like Andrew Benintendi a half-day off, while still keeping their bats in the lineup. However, with the White Sox’s lack of run production and Vaughn’s lackluster start to the season, the White Sox need to stop messing around and allow Elko to sink or swim at the major league level.
The White Sox are already on pace to lose over 100 games this season, but they could even get close to their loss record, which they set at 121 games last season. Since that’s the case for the White Sox and they already promoted Meidroth and Quero, Elko should be the next guy who gets the call.
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