Trevor Richards’ struggles have created an obvious opening in the White Sox bullpen, and Ben Peoples has done more than enough in Triple-A to deserve the next shot.
We've seen the Chicago White Sox shuffle their bullpen all season long, constantly looking for the right mix of arms to help this young team reach its full potential. We've also seen the short leash they have for pitchers who aren't getting the job done.
It is once again time for the White Sox to acknowledge what's not working. It's time for them to move on from Trevor Richards and bring up a more deserving bullpen candidate.
The White Sox acquired Richards in a trade with the Philadelphia Phillies back on May 5 after he pitched 4.1 innings and allowed just one run in a Phillies uniform to start the season. It was hard to critique the move at the time. Richards had nearly a decade of MLB experience, had made 300 MLB appearances, and had made some noticeable changes to his arsenal and arm slot that were impossible to ignore.
But since joining the White Sox, Richards has been nothing but trouble, and it's starting to cost them games.
In four appearances with Chicago, Richards has thrown 4.2 innings and allowed seven hits and eight earned runs, giving him an ERA of 15.43.
Richards has allowed a home run in three of his four White Sox outings, including a three-run home run to Josh Naylor on May 8, a two-run home run to Pete Crow-Armstrong on May 16, and a three-run home run to Colt Emerson on May 18, which put the finishing touches on a one-sided game in Seattle on Monday night.
I won't criticize the White Sox for giving it a shot. Bullpen arms are volatile, and you never know when you can unlock something that becomes a valuable asset for the organization. It's also a good idea to maintain organizational depth by pulling innings out of discarded veterans.
But I will criticize the White Sox if they let this go much further. It's time to call this thing quits with Trevor Richards and give right-hander Ben Peoples his deserved shot in Major League Baseball.
Peoples was acquired by the White Sox in the Adrian Houser trade at the 2025 trade deadline, along with Curtis Mead and Duncan Davitt. He's currently in Triple-A Charlotte and has a 3-0 record with a 0.83 ERA in 16 appearances this season. In 21.2 innings of work, Peoples has also struck out 30 batters. That's 12.5 K/9, which is a significant tick up from the 8.7 he had in Triple-A a year ago.
Last week against the Norfolk Tides, Peoples made two appearances and threw two hitless innings, recording all six outs via strikeout.
The way I see it, he's a 25-year-old with a ton of upside who looks the part and has earned his place on this roster. He truly can't be worse than what the White Sox have gotten out of Trevor Richards thus far.
I'm all about maintaining three left-handers in the bullpen, which is why pitchers like Tyler Schweitzer and Brandon Eisert have been given opportunities before Peoples this year, but it's clearly time to move on from Richards, and there couldn't be a more obvious choice to replace him.
I'd like to see the White Sox make this move sooner rather than later and upgrade this team with another infusion of young talent.
