David Sandlin's second start goes poorly vs. Twins

David Sandlin's first major league start against the Minnesota Twins couldn't have gone better last week. What would he do for an encore Monday night? 

Well, I'm sorry to report Sandlin's second outing was pretty much a disaster. Five days after limiting the Twins to only one hit over six innings, this time the White Sox rookie right-hander got hit around for eight earned runs in four-plus innings.

The Sox saw their five-game winning streak come to an end with a 9-6 loss at Target Field. 

What was different for Sandlin (1-1) this time? Walks and a lot of traffic on the bases. In his previous outing, he retired the final 18 batters he faced and never threw a single pitch out of the stretch. He walked nobody. On Monday, Sandlin walked four and surrendered eight hits. He was on his heels in almost every inning he pitched.

Despite the high score, believe it or not, this was a 1-1 game into the bottom of the fourth. That's when Minnesota's No. 9 batter, Tristan Gray, took Sandlin deep for a two-out grand slam that made the score 5-1.

That could have been a fatal blow to the Sox, but they answered quickly with three runs in the fifth. Miguel Vargas hit a two-run homer, and Andrew Benintendi followed with a solo homer to make it 5-4.

Suddenly, Sandlin had a new lease on life. Alas, he loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the fifth on a single and two walks. That would be the end of his night, and Tyler Davis allowed all three of his inherited runners to score -- plus one more run -- and the Twins were in full control of the game at 9-4 headed to the sixth inning.

The score stayed that way until the ninth inning, when Vargas delivered his second two-run homer of the night to make it 9-6. However, the Sox could get no closer.

Vargas is up to 15 homers, tied with Colson Montgomery for second on the team, but poor pitching doomed the Sox on this night.

The Sox are 32-28. They fall 1.5 games back of the idle Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central. 

White Sox pitcher David Sandlin dominates Twins in MLB debut

David Sandlin's first major league start probably couldn't have started much worse. The second pitch of his career got knocked out the park by Minnesota's Byron Buxton.

After that? Sandlin probably couldn't have done much better. He was outstanding, retiring the next 18 batters he faced to earn his first career victory as the White Sox throttled the Twins, 15-2, on Wednesday at Rate Field.

Yesterday, I said Sandlin would probably go five innings or 75 pitches, whichever came first. Ha! Shows what I know.

The 25-year-old right-hander needed only 61 pitches to get through six innings. He struck out four, walked nobody and threw 41 of those 61 pitches for strikes. He got seven swing-and-misses, and his fastball topped out at 99 mph. When Sandlin walked off the mound after the top of the sixth, he left with a comfortable 9-1 lead.

There are few Sox debuts this successful. Even a cynical fan like me thought this performance was awesome.

The Sox offense had a great game, too, as they pummeled Minnesota pitching for 15 runs on 18 hits. They had two five-run innings, one in the fifth and one in the seventh.

The seventh inning featured back-to-back home runs by Chase Meidroth and Munetaka Murakami. For Meidroth, it was his fifth homer of the season and first career grand slam. For Murakami, the solo shot was his 20th homer of the season. That leads the American League, and it's the most home runs by a rookie before June in MLB history.

Murakami has homered in all three games of this Minnesota series. On Wednesday, he was 2 for 4 with three runs scored. There's really no question that his addition has completely changed the complexion of the Sox lineup.

Sam Antonacci went 3 for 4 with two runs scored and three RBIs, including a two-run single in the second inning that erased the early 1-0 Minnesota lead and put the Sox ahead to stay. Randal Grichuk was 3 for 5 with two RBIs.

Meidroth, Colson Montgomery and Tristan Peters also had two-hit games for the Sox, who improve to 28-27, maintain second place and stay 3.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.

Game 4 of this series is Thursday afternoon, with the Sox hoping for a series win, and the Twins looking to salvage a split. 

White Sox call up David Sandlin; Noah Schultz hits the IL

The White Sox have called up right-handed pitching prospect David Sandlin, and he will make the start Wednesday against the Minnesota Twins at Rate Field.

Sandlin, 25, was acquired along with Jordan Hicks in an offseason trade with the Boston Red Sox. He dealt with a sore forearm in spring training, and he has been ramping up in the minor leagues after recovering from the early-season injury.

He has a 0.75 ERA across four outings with Triple-A Charlotte, the last of which lasted four innings. We should not expect Sandlin to pitch deep into the ballgame Wednesday night. It will probably be 75 pitches or five innings, whichever comes first.

Sandlin takes the roster spot of Noah Schultz, who has been placed on the injured list with right knee patella tendinitis. This is the same injury the 22-year-old lefty dealt with in 2025, when he was limited to 17 games and 73 innings.

Schultz has struggled as of late. He's 0-3 with a 9.87 ERA over his past four starts. Worse, he's walked 10 batters in 17.1 innings over that same span. Schultz had the reputation of a strike-thrower during his time in the minor leagues, so the mounting walks have been a head-scratcher.

Perhaps he was pitching at less than 100%, and if so, he shouldn't be pitching. We'll see if Sandlin, who has a high-90s fastball, can fill the gap in the short run.

Twins 5, White Sox 3 (11 innings)

Brooks Lee's 3-run double in the top of the 11th inning off Tyler Davis (2-2) allowed the Twins to take the second game of the four-game series Tuesday at Rate Field.

After getting ahead 0-2 in the count with two fastballs with the bases loaded and one out, Davis tried to trick Lee with splitter, and it did not work. 

The Sox were fortunate to get the game into extra innings. They managed only three hits off Minnesota starter Joe Ryan through the first seven innings. However, with the Twins leading 2-0, Rikuu Nishida singled to open the eighth inning, and one out later, Munetaka Murakami hit his 19th home run of the season to even the score at 2.

In the bottom of the 10th, the Sox had their chance. They had runners on first and third with one out for Murakami, but he hit a one-hopper right at Minnesota first baseman Josh Bell that resulted in an inning-ending double play.

That set the stage for Lee to deliver the decisive hit that made the score 5-2. In the bottom of the 11th, the Sox got their ghost runner home on an RBI single by Chase Meidroth, but that was as close as they could get.

The Sox are 27-27, 3.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians in the AL Central.

Erick Fedde returns to White Sox on 1-year deal

Veteran right-handed pitcher Erick Fedde has agreed to a one-year contract with the White Sox, sources say.

This will be Fedde's second stint with the Sox, as he made 21 starts with the team in 2024 before being traded in July of that season.

The 33-year-old has spent parts of eight seasons in the majors, going a combined 34-55 with a 4.94 ERA with the Washington Nationals, White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves and Milwaukee Brewers.

Fedde enjoyed his best success with the 2024 Sox. Here's a breakdown of that season:

• 2024 with White Sox: 7-4, 3.11 ERA, 1.142 WHIP in 121.2 innings pitched
• 2024 with Cardinals: 2-5, 3.72 ERA, 1.204 WHIP in 55.2 innings pitched
• 2024 totals: 9-9, 3.30 ERA, 1.162 WHIP in 177.1 innings pitched

Those are very respectable totals, and Fedde actually started the 2025 season well in St. Louis. He had a 3.54 ERA over his first 13 starts, but then the wheels completely fell off. Fedde pitched with three different teams before the season was over, and he ended the year in Milwaukee's bullpen. Here's a breakdown of that season:

• 2025 with Cardinals: 3-10, 5.22 ERA, 1.505 WHIP in 101.2 innings pitched
• 2025 with Braves: 1-2, 8.10 ERA, 1.843 WHIP in 23.1 innings pitched
• 2025 with Brewers: 0-1, 3.38 ERA, 1.125 WHIP in 16 innings pitched
• 2025 totals: 4-13, 5.49 ERA, 1.518 WHIP in 141 innings pitched

Fedde seemed to regain his form a bit in the small sample size of relief work with the Brewers, but that season was pretty brutal overall for him.

The Sox are apparently hoping he'll regain his 2024 form in a city where he's comfortable, and where he had his best MLB production.

The best guess here is Fedde slots into the No. 4 spot in the Sox rotation, behind Shane Smith, Davis Martin and Anthony Kay. As camp opens, expect the No. 5 spot to be an open competition among Sean Burke, Jonathan Cannon, Tanner McDougal and David Sandlin.

As is our custom when players return for a second tour in Chicago, let's welcome Fedde back with the traditional video:

 

 

White Sox 'buy a prospect' from Red Sox

Over the weekend, the White Sox made a kind of trade I can't recall them ever making before. 

They took on a bad contract and added to their payroll for purposes of acquiring a pitching prospect they wanted.

Here's the trade they made with the Boston Red Sox:

Chicago gets: RHP Jordan Hicks, RHP David Sandlin, two players to be named later, $8 million

Boston gets: RHP Gage Ziehl, a player to be named later

The guy the Sox wanted here is Sandlin, who was the No. 8 prospect in the Boston organization. The 24-year-old ascended to Triple-A last season, finishing the year with a 9-6 record and 4.50 ERA. He made 14 starts before moving to the bullpen to accommodate a predetermined innings limit.

I've never seen Sandlin throw a pitch before, but apparently he's 6-foot-4, 215 pounds and can rush it up in the mid-90s. He's another guy who could be in the starting rotation mix by the midpoint of 2026, and we all know the Sox need pitching.

Why would Boston do this deal? Welp, the Red Sox wanted to get rid of Hicks, who has two years and $25 million remaining on a four-year, $44 million contract he signed before the 2024 season.

The Sox are on the hook for all but the $8 million they received in the trade. In effect, they "bought" Sandlin by taking on the majority of Hicks' contract.

Hicks was a decent reliever for the St. Louis Cardinals from 2018-23, but after signing with San Francisco in 2024, he converted to starting. That experiment did not go well.

Last season, Hicks was traded from San Francisco to Boston midseason. He did not pitch well at either stop, going a combined 2-7 with a 6.95 ERA in 34 games. He made nine starts with the Giants, but all 21 of his games with the Red Sox were in relief.

According to comments given to Scott Merkin on whitesox.com, Hicks has been throwing in the high-90s in bullpen sessions this winter. Maybe there's still an effective relief pitcher in there somewhere.

The Sox do have some velocity in their bullpen now with Hicks joining Seranthony Dominguez, Grant Taylor and Jordan Leasure. That's not something we could have said at any point in 2025. We'll see who pitches in what role when the season starts.