The White Sox have had a perfect opportunity to give young players some playing time, as these are some of the most meaningless baseball games most of the White Sox players have ever played. The White Sox should have used this season as a chance to let some of their most promising prospects get some playing time, however, the White Sox did not use this opportunity for most of the season, but they have started to as of late.
The White Sox have now called up some intriguing names like Jairo Iriarte, Bryan Ramos, and Prelander Berroa, all of whom likely have a spot on the 2025 roster and potentially beyond.
The White Sox are now adding another name to this list, as they have promoted Sean Burke from AAA to make his Major League debut.
The White Sox have optioned Nick Nastrini as the corresponding move, which is a bit head scratching. Nastrini has had a tough time finding the strike zone, but he has certainly made some improvements since his Major League debut. I would have much rather had Nastrini work through things at the Major League level instead of AAA and DFA a guy like Chad Kuhl who likely won’t be on the team next year.
Regardless, Burke is a very exciting prospect and it will be good to see him get some Major League innings before Spring Training. Burke has had a very solid season after coming back from Tommy John surgery about a year and a half ago, which is a good sign.
On the year, Burke is 2-7 with a 4.77 ERA, however he has pitched much better than that the last few months, as he had a 4.22 ERA in August with hitters only hitting .188 off of him. Walks were an issue in the early part of the season for Burke, but he has been better about giving up free passes.
It is no doubt that Burke has the potential to be a solid Major League pitcher, as he has struck out a lot of batters in the minors this year. In 71.2 innings, he has struck out 103 batters, which is good for a phenomenal 12.93 K/9.
Burke has started all 19 games he’s appeared in this season, but he is likely to have some long relief outings out of the bullpen for the time being. There is a chance he gets a start or two to end the season as the White Sox try to limit Garrett Crochet’s innings.
This was a long overdue move for the White Sox, as it seemed that they wouldn’t make this move. Now, Chris Getz and company finally made it. Sean Burke will get an opportunity to get a head start on making the 2025 roster.
