Keeping tabs on old White Sox friends: Vol. 3

Chris Sale cruises with Atlanta while Fernando Tatís Jr. struggles to return to MVP-caliber form

Hey there, fellow White Sox fans! Welcome to this season’s new feature. It’s a bimonthly update on how some of our beloved former players are faring with their current teams. Additionally, I’ll cover some of our lesser-known old favorites, some mid-level players, and even a few former prospects.

Fan favorite

Chris Sale — LHP
The southpaw is now a grizzled old veteran, and it feels like a lifetime has passed since the White Sox selected him as the 13th overall pick in Round 1 of the 2010 MLB Draft. An apropos adjective to describe that draft was “STACKED.” It included some pretty darn good players like Bryce Harper (No. 1), Manny Machado (No. 3), Yasmani Grandal (No. 12), Christian Yelich (No. 23), and Noah Syndergaard (No. 38).

Sale rapidly progressed through the minors and was the first player of that class to make his big league debut, as a reliever on Aug. 6, 2010, just two months after being drafted. Unfortunately, his first appearance was not ideal, as he failed to get a single out, and Ozzie Guillén removed him from the game after giving up a hit and a walk. Of course, this would not be indicative of his future performances. During the remainder of his rookie year, the 21-year-old recorded a 2-1 record with a 1.93 ERA and 32 strikeouts over 23 1⁄3 innings. As we well know, it was all uphill from there. The lefty pitched in Chicago for seven seasons and had five All-Star selections. He was a dominant force on the diamond, with 74 wins and 50 losses and a 3.00 ERA over 1,110 innings. His 1,244 career strikeouts are sixth all-time for the Sox, and his 30.1 WAR comes in at 10th.

With the club going nowhere fast, Rick Hahn traded the five-time All-Star to the Boston Red Sox in a blockbuster deal on Dec. 6, 2016. In exchange for the ace, the ChiSox received a promising group of players, including Luis Basabe, Michael Kopech, Victor Diaz, and Yoán Moncada. And thus, the South Side rebuild commenced. There’s no need for commentary on that; we all know how that story ends.

Sale’s six-year career with the Red Sox included the highest of highs and lowest of lows. In 2017, he led the majors in strikeouts with 274; in 2018, he helped Boston to a World Series Championship; in both ’17 and ’18, he was the starter for the All-Star Game. You could call that a pretty darn successful run.

However, as the old Poison song goes, every rose does indeed have its thorn. From 2019 to 2023, the lefthander experienced the worst seasons of his career, battling through multiple injuries and undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2020. He was never able to recapture the early dominance he had in Beantown. It certainly was a disappointing turn of events for someone once considered a shoo-in candidate for the Hall of Fame.

Roll in December 2023, and Boston traded Sale and cash considerations to the Atlanta Braves for infield prospect Vaughn Grissom. So far, Atlanta’s big bet on the veteran is paying huge dividends. The 35-year-old has reawakened some of that youthful spark with America’s Team in 2024. He’s 4-1 in six starts with a 3.44 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP, and 42 Ks over 36 2⁄3 innings. Nevertheless, it’s still early in the season, and there’s a lot of baseball left to play, but this is looking to be a vintage Sale season. Meanwhile, here in Chicago, Moncada is injured again, and we’re still wondering if Kopech will ever be an effective pitcher.

Mid-dude

Dane Dunning — RHP
Our old friend Dane, along with Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López, came to the South Side from the Washington Nationals in the Adam Eaton trade of 2016. Dunning was a Round 1 pick (No. 29) of the Nationals in the 2016 MLB Draft. The righthander quickly rose up through Chicago’s ranks and was considered one of their Top 10 prospects from 2017-20.

Most Sox fans remember Dunning’s very brief cup of coffee with the big league club during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. The 25-year-old started eight games for the Good Guys, including Game 3 of the 2020 AL Wild Card. It’s hard to forget Ricky Renteria’s quick hook of Dunning, who only got to throw 15 pitches to four batters. Dunning proved not long for the South Side as Hahn and Co. traded Dunning and Avery Weems to the Texas Rangers in December of that year for the Big Bastard, Lance Lynn.

The righty has accumulated a 5.0 WAR in his 3+ seasons with the Lone Stars and was a key piece of their World Series-winning team last season. He was 12-7 with a 3.70 ERA over 172 2⁄3 innings in a combined role as a starter and reliever. He struggled a bit in the Division Series and League Championship but surrendered no runs in three appearances out of the pen in the World Series. Dunning has also proven to be pretty durable, as he has pitched more than 100 innings in each of his three seasons with the Rangers. But hey, we’ll always have memories of the 2021 pre-All-Star break Lance Lynn. Oh, and the horrific flashbacks of the 2024 version of home runs for everyone.

Dunning has moved back into the rotation for Texas in 2024. So far, he’s 3-2 with a 4.10 ERA. That’s not fantastic, but he would probably be the second-best starter on this current White Sox team. He’s also still south of 30 years old, so there’s plenty of time to make the trade look even worse.

Who did you say again?

José Ruiz — RHP
The White Sox claimed converted catcher Ruiz off of waivers from the San Diego Padres in December 2017. The Friars signed the Venezuelan native in 2011 when he was only 16 years old. The righthander spent his entire career in the low-level minors while in the Padres system — except for his major league debut. The club called him up from the Single-A Lake Elsinore Storm, and he pitched one inning on July 24, 2017, during which he had one walk and one strikeout. After the game, the Padres promptly returned him to Single-A. Talk about a promotion and a demotion. That’s a rough one.

The Sox assigned Ruiz to the Winston-Salem Dash in 2018 and promoted him to the Birmingham Barons after only 10 games. With the Barons, he was selected as a Southern League All-Star, and by September, he was in Chicago. He spent 2019 going back and forth between the Knights and the Sox and spent 2020 doing the same with the Alternate Training Site and Chicago. Once 2021 rolled around, he was with the big club for good, and had his best career season to date, going 1-3 with a 3.05 ERA and 63 Ks. He looked to be a solid piece of the pen moving forward in the contention window, but that was not to be. Ruiz was pretty awful in 2022, started even worse in 2023, and was DFA’d on April 7, 2023. Ultimately, he was traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks for Jerry’s favorite — cash.

The 28-year-old wasn’t long for The Grand Canyon State, and in October 2023 Ruiz headed to the Navegantes del Magallanes of the Venezuelan winter league. The Philadelphia Phillies signed him to a minor league deal in November, assigned to Triple-A, and on May 3 promoted him back to the bigs. The following day, Ruiz gave up two hits and walked two over two innings of work. It seems to be the same old, same old. There’s no big loss here.

What could have been

Fernando Tatís Jr. — RHP
In 2015, the White Sox signed Tatís to a minor league contract when he was just 16 years old. Less than a year later, they traded El Niño and Erik Johnson to the San Diego Padres for James Shields. Do I really need to remind everyone what happened next? He’s been an All-Star and Rookie of the Year finalist and won a Gold Glove. He also cranked out 42 bombs in 2021 and finished third in MVP voting.

I mean, it is probably necessary to mention the 80-game performance-enhancing substance use suspension in 2022 as well. Tatis did not appeal his ban and, in a statement, said, “It turns out that I inadvertently took a medication to treat ringworm that contained Clostebol. I should have used the resources available to me in order to ensure that no banned substances were in what I took. I failed to do so.”

In all honesty, the right fielder hasn’t been all that great since his return from suspension. In 2023, he slashed only .257/.322/.449 with 25 dingers and is off to a similar start this season with a line of .250/.331/.451. Sure, he would likely be the 2024 All-Star selection for Chicago with those numbers, but it really doesn’t come close to the pre-suspension line of .292/.369/.596. Curious, wouldn’t you say? He’s still young at only 25 years old, so there’s plenty of time left to see how this one plays out.