Prospect Week at Sox Machine continues with a look at the system's most prominent relievers, although one could say the reliever post started with the injury roundup, which covered Zack Burdi and Ian Hamilton.
Based on the success rate from last year's reliever roundup, one might ask whether this post is worth writing at all.
Nevertheless!
Tyler Johnson: He could have joined Burdi and Hamilton in the pile of injured relievers because a lat strain in February took him not only cost him a normal spring training, but also the first couple months of the regular season. Once he was able to return to affiliated ball in June, he eventually resembled the form that made him eligible for a fast-track.
The 2017 fifth-round pick posted a 2.59 ERA with 43 strikeouts to 31 baserunners over 31⅓ innings across three levels. His effectiveness was slightly skewed toward the level of competition as one would expect, but four of the seven runs he allowed over 18⅓ innings in Birmingham stemmed from one disastrous outing against Montgomery. He recovered to finish the season with four consecutive scoreless, walkless outings of two innings apiece, recording nine strikeouts to just one hit.
The one catch lies in his Arizona Fall league results. He issued seven walks to three strikeouts over nine games, which might have been attributable to mechanical reconstruction. He said he's been working on eliminating the crossfire in his delivery that might have contributed to his lat strain, and also results in some unwanted movement on his pitches.
This tension between what he was and what he could be is worth revisiting in spring training, because a hot start puts him on the cusp of a call-up to Chicago, and his fastball-slider combination was probably worth a look at some point without further refinement. A step back might be more beneficial in the long run, and Johnson seems to be buying into it, but it's hard to resist doing what worked before when the path to the majors is visible.
Codi Heuer: Heuer went a whole, healthy season without allowing a home run. Forty-two games, 67⅔ innings, no homers. The other numbers work for him, too. He posted a 2.39 ERA between Winston-Salem (38 innings) and Birmingham (29), and while his strikeout rate dipped from the jump in levels (27% to 19%), his ground-ball rate increased (61.8% to 65.1%).
The White Sox drafted Heuer out of Wichita State in the sixth round of the 2018 draft as a starter, but the scouting reports at the time said his stuff was likelier to stand out in shorter bursts, and that seems to be the case here.
The mid-90s sinker seems to be a legit weapon. The drop in the strikeout rate at Double-A perhaps reflects concerns about the consistency of his slider, but he's got some fans in the scouting community.
Matt Foster: Johnson stands out with his stuff, his collegiate reputation and his competitiveness. Heuer stands out by being a lanky 6'5". Foster, by comparison, is shorter, stockier, and doesn't have a standout secondary offering. It also doesn't help that he briefly retired a couple of years ago, which took him entirely off the board for a bit and made his climb to prominence longer than usual.
The euphemism is that he competes with his fastball, but thanks to the insane environment in Charlotte, it's hard to tell how his talent really stacks up. He stood out simply with a true 3.76 ERA (no unearned runs) over 55 innings, over which he struck out 62 batters against 19 walks. That's great, but he also allowed nine homers, and he has the fly-ball tendencies that could bite him in a hitter-friendly park, be it Charlotte or Chicago.
That said, effectiveness in Charlotte was enough of an accomplishment to warrant 40-man roster protection for the time being, which relievers with comparable histories (like Zach Thompson) can't boast.
Hunter Schryver: After the rise and fall of Caleb Frare,* here comes Hyntyr Schryvyr as the next hope that international money can be converted into a useful left-handed reliever. He was one of those pitchers that inadvertently made Foster more impressive, as he got clobbered in Charlotte. He wore an 8.56 ERA over 11 outings.
If you're looking for solace, his strikeout rate surged at Triple-A (33.3%) compared to Double-A (19.4%). Then again, that might've been the only way hitters got out. His walk rate doubled, and he surrendered a .452 BABIP. He's got a good curveball, but might lack the power to succeed with it in the uppermost levels.
(*Frare and Schryver are both on the non-roster invitee list, so Frare could be the new Frare for all we know.)
Andrew Perez: Another one of those collegiate closers taken on a draft's second day (eighth round, 2018), Perez still hasn't tasted failure in professional baseball, what with a 2.01 ERA, including a paltry 1.74 over 67 innings divided between Kannapolis and Winston-Salem.
Of course, ERA doesn't quite tell the story of his most recent chapter. He gave up more unearned runs (five) than earned runs, which masks the wrong turn his peripherals took after the promotion:
- Walk rate: 7.6% to 12%
- Strikeout rate: 32.9% to 24.5%
- Ground-ball rate: 38.2% to 33.8%
Somehow he managed to allow just one homer over his 41 appearances.
This could all turn on him next year, but he's young for a collegiate reliever (22), and he had more success against righties than lefties, which is good for a lefty in the era of the three-batter minimum. Those are two things a fellow southpaw with a similar profile (Bennett Sousa) doesn't have going for him.
Alec Hansen: Two years ago, it would've been unfathomable that the White Sox would leave Hansen off the 40-man roster. In the last two years, Hansen's walked 103 batters over 103⅔ innings.
The White Sox eased him into the 2019 season with a successful stint in Winston-Salem, but it all fell apart when he returned to Birmingham. He issued 37 walks against 45 strikeouts over 39⅔ innings despite a carefully allocated workload, and while not every outing was a disaster, he didn't go long without lapsing.
There was June 15, when coming off two scoreless, walkless outings, he opened a game by walking five of the seven batters he faced. He also dashed the hopes of a decent stretch to end his season by issuing seven walks over his final two appearances. He couldn't iron it out in the instructional league, either.
Coming Wednesday: The new guys, and the old young guys.
