The White Sox made a long-awaited move in their bullpen Wednesday, designating the struggling Bruce Rondon for assignment and bringing Jeanmar Gomez up from Triple-A.
Gomez has been the subject of many queries this season as he's put up fantastic numbers in a relief role at Charlotte, with a 2.02 ERA in 40 innings of work. Given the White Sox 4.49 bullpen ERA heading into Wednesday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals, it's been a wonder to a number of social-media using fans why Gomez wasn't added to the relief corps sooner.
Gomez was one of several veteran relievers signed to minor league contracts over the winter, players who looked like ideal sign-and-flip candidates after Rick Hahn's front office traded away so many relievers last summer. Rondon, as well as the currently succeeding Xavier Cedeno, fell into the same category. You could look at the trade that brought in Joakim Soria and Luis Avilan, both potential trade candidates, as a similar move.
Gomez has relatively recent closing experience, saving 37 games for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2016. But he appeared in only 18 big league games last season with the Phillies and turned in an oversized 7.25 ERA.
Rondon flashed some potential when he was first added to the White Sox bullpen early this season, but he's had numerous multi-run outings, including in Tuesday's loss to the Cardinals, when he allowed a run to score on a wild pitch, walked in a run and was responsible for the three runners who scored on Dexter Fowler's grand slam. That three-run performance bulged his ERA to 8.49 on the season.