Fresh southpaw Brandon Eisert returns to solidify a taxed Chicago bullpen, replacing Tyler Schweitzer as the South Siders navigate heavy workloads ahead of Saturday’s showdown against the Cubs.
The Chicago White Sox are swapping bullpen arms.
The White Sox are calling up left-handed pitcher Brandon Eisert and optioning Tyler Schweitzer to Triple-A Charlotte ahead of Saturday’s contest against the Chicago Cubs.
Schweitzer last pitched for the White Sox on Friday, when he threw 1 ⅓ scoreless innings with one hit and one walk allowed. This relief appearance came after the southpaw allowed three runs on two hits against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.
This will be the second time that Schweitzer has been optioned to Triple-A this season. The White Sox’s No. 23 prospect made his Major League debut on April 8 before being optioned one day later on April 9. He was then called back up on May 8 and spent one week with the White Sox.
Schweitzer has a 9.00 ERA, a 2.000 WHIP, and one strikeout in his four big league innings this season. However, the 25-year-old did put together a scoreless appearance in two of his three outings in his second stint with the White Sox.
Eisert will now take Schweitzer's spot on the active roster.
This will be Eisert's second time up with the team this year. In his first go-around in mid-April, the 28-year-old wasn’t exactly sharp in his two relief appearances. He gave up four runs across 2 ⅓ innings and allowed a lot of hard contact (54.5% hard-hit rate).
It’s interesting to see the White Sox recall Eisert from Triple-A, given his recent struggles with the Charlotte Knights. He just allowed four runs in an appearance on Tuesday and has given up a run in three of his last five games.
However, Eisert gives Chicago a semi-fresh arm in their bullpen. He has only thrown four pitches since Wednesday, and the White Sox’s bullpen has been taxed in recent days. Multiple relievers are likely down for Saturday’s game.
Jordan Hicks won’t be an option after throwing 35 pitches on Friday. The White Sox likely won’t pitch Sean Newcomb and Tyler Davis for the third time in four days, and Grant Taylor hasn’t pitched back-to-back games since early April.
It would have been nice for the White Sox to finally call up Ben Peoples. Peoples is having a tremendous pitching campaign down at Triple-A Charlotte and currently owns a 0.87 ERA and 27 strikeouts across 20 ⅔ innings pitched.
But the main reason he hasn’t been called up is that he isn’t on the 40-man roster. The White Sox are probably not ready to clear a 40-man spot for him just yet.