José Urquidy delivered five scoreless innings in his first start with Triple-A Charlotte after being acquired in a trade by the Chicago White Sox.
The latest Chicago White Sox trade acquisition, right-handed pitcher José Urquidy, is off to a great start with his new organization.
The White Sox landed Urquidy in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates over the weekend, adding him to the 40-man roster but immediately assigning him to Triple-A Charlotte. Urquidy appeared in five games out of the bullpen for the Pirates this season, posting an 8.53 ERA over 6.1 innings, but had been relatively effective as a starting pitcher at the Triple-A level.
Urquidy made his first start as a member of the White Sox organization with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights on Tuesday evening and gave Chicago a reason to consider adding him to the MLB roster. Urquidy threw five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and one walk while recording one strikeout. Despite not having strikeout stuff, he was a tough customer and delivered a strong start in a hitter-friendly environment in Nashville.
That's been par for the course recently. Over his last seven Triple-A outings, Urquidy has thrown 36 innings and posted a 1.50 ERA.
Urquidy has thrown as many as 97 pitches in a start this season and completed seven full innings in two different starts during the month of July. He may not find a regular role in Chicago's starting rotation, but the White Sox are currently in a position where they need innings. If Urquidy keeps pitching like he did on Tuesday night, he will be a viable option to pitch deep into a ballgame, eat some innings and hopefully deliver a quality start.
That could be as a spot starter, a full-time member of the rotation, or even in a long relief role.
The White Sox currently value postseason experience in any additions they make to the roster. Urquidy has that. He has appeared in 15 playoff games throughout his MLB career, all of them coming with the Houston Astros from 2019 through 2023. He also appeared in the World Series in three different seasons, totaling 14.2 innings with just two earned runs allowed.
Even if it is that bullpen role, Urquidy could earn himself a spot on the White Sox roster with more strong performances in Triple-A Charlotte.
The MLB trade deadline is now less than a week away, meaning the White Sox will be under the gun to make a deal and solidify a starting rotation that will be good enough for the home stretch. We should see at least one, if not two, and potentially as many as three new faces joining the White Sox soon.
