The White Sox are once again adjusting their bullpen mix after Jordan Hicks suffered an injury, with Jordan Leasure returning to the major league roster.
Prior to Saturday afternoon's game against the San Francisco Giants, the Chicago White Sox made a roster move to account for the latest bullpen injury.
The White Sox placed right-handed reliever Jordan Hicks on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 21, with a right lat strain.
Right-handed pitcher Jordan Leasure, who was sent down to the minor leagues a few weeks ago, is rejoining the White Sox in the corresponding move.
Jordan Hicks has a 5.60 ERA in 20 appearances with the White Sox this season. He's completed 17.2 innings and issued 17 walks, with command being his primary issue. When Hicks has been around the strike zone, he's actually had good results.
From April 12 to May 13, Hicks went an entire month without allowing a run, tossing nine scoreless innings for the White Sox and lowering his season ERA to 3.45.
He then issued four walks and allowed four earned runs against the Chicago Cubs during the Crosstown Classic before giving up a home run that ended up being the difference in Sunday's rubber match against the Seattle Mariners.
As much as White Sox fans may want to celebrate a bullpen move, I'm not sure this is the one they had in mind. I've been advocating for someone like Ben Peoples to get a promotion and an opportunity with the White Sox for weeks now, but instead, Chicago is going back to Leasure, who got knocked around for a 6.06 ERA in 16 appearances earlier this season.
Leasure allowed five home runs before being sent down to the minor leagues, and while he has a 2.08 ERA in 4.1 innings for Charlotte since returning there, I'm not sure how much the White Sox can count on him moving forward.
If the White Sox could just get the version of Jordan Leasure that showed up in the second half of 2025, the bullpen would be in a great spot. In August and September of last year, Leasure posted a 2.84 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 25.1 innings. He has flashed the potential to be a high-leverage arm, but he has also proved to be way too prone to the home run ball to pitch in close games consistently.
For now, he's probably a low-leverage innings eater while the White Sox continue trying to figure out the proper mix in the bullpen.
The White Sox have an afternoon game in San Francisco on Saturday, where they will look to get three games above .500 for the first time during the 2026 season.
