After a brief stint in Cleveland, right-hander Peyton Pallette rejoins the South Siders to refine his high-strikeout potential and bolster the organization's future bullpen depth.
An old friend has returned to the Chicago White Sox organization.
The Cleveland Guardians have sent back 25-year-old pitcher Peyton Pallette to the White Sox after they designated him for assignment on May 24.
The White Sox lost Pallette in the Rule 5 Draft this past winter, as the Guardians took him ninth overall. Cleveland’s selection of Pallette meant that the young right-hander had to spend the entire season with the Major League club.
However, his early-season struggles led the Guardians to eventually get rid of him in late May. Pallette had a 5.23 ERA, a 1.597 WHIP, and 22 strikeouts across 20 ⅔ innings pitched before being designated for assignment.
Pallette definitely struggled in his first taste of the big leagues this year. He had a 5.25 expected ERA, a 2nd percentile chase rate (21.5%), a 3rd percentile walk rate (16.5%), a 24th percentile hard-hit rate (42.9%), and had a below-average pull AIR rate against (21.4%).
With the Guardians needing fresh bullpen arms for their game on May 24, they made the tough decision to get rid of Pallette. Cleveland couldn’t simply option him to Triple-A and call up another reliever. Since he was selected in the Rule 5 Draft, he had to stay with the big league club for the entire season.
The Guardians decision to DFA the young pitcher put the White Sox in the driver’s seat. Cleveland had to offer him back to the White Sox since he was stolen from them back in December’s draft.
Unsurprisingly, the South Siders accepted him back.
Pallette was officially returned to the White Sox on Saturday and was assigned to Triple-A Charlotte on Sunday. He’s now back in the organization that drafted him in the second round of the 2022 MLB Draft.
The 6-foot-1 right-hander has shown some promise throughout his Minor League career with the White Sox. He finished with a 4.37 ERA and 95 strikeouts across 82 ⅓ innings at High-A and Double-A in 2024 and had a 4.06 ERA and 86 strikeouts across 64 ⅓ innings at Double-A and Triple-A last year.
There’s a reason why White Sox fans were annoyed when the Guardians took him in the Rule 5 Draft this past winter. This is a pitcher who has a ton of potential and can be a really good big league reliever one day.
Pallette had a 29.7% strikeout rate, a 34.1% whiff rate, a 29.4% chase rate, a 62.9% zone-swing rate, a 76.9% zone-contact rate, and a 15.1% swinging strike rate in his 36 appearances with the Charlotte Knights last season. All six of those metrics ranked extremely well.
Thankfully, Pallette has returned to the White Sox organization. He will continue to develop his game at the Minor League level and hopefully contribute meaningful innings out of Chicago's bullpen in the future.
