Adrian

Nieto

Say hello to your new backup catcher, Chicago. The 24-year-old Cuban hit .285 with 68 runs, 53 RBI and 11 homers across 110 games for High Class-A Potomac in 2013. That would seem to suggest that he isn’t close to the majors -- “Talked to scouts who saw him in [the] Carolina League, thought of him as [an] iffy MLBer,” tweeted Baseball America’s JJ Cooper -- but Nieto opened eyes in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .271 with six RBI in 13 games. His addition is bad news for Tyler Flowers.

The 27-year-old backstop spent the 2016 campaign in the Marlins’ organization where he slashed an anemic .195/.287/.257 with one homer and 19 RBI in 129 plate appearances. He’s nothing more than minor league catching depth for the Reds at this point.

Nieto hasn’t played as much as expected with Tyler Flowers off to a nice start, but he’s done well in his limited opportunities, going 11-for-34. We wouldn’t expect him to keep it up if his role expands.

The news comes courtesy of Nieto’s agent, Joshua Kusnick. Nieto, who will be making the jump from High-A, has batted just .250/.318/.350 over 13 games this spring but has impressed the White Sox with his defense. He’ll back up Tyler Flowers, with Josh Phegley likely heading to Triple-A.

Tyler Flowers will be Chicago’s Opening Day catcher, and Rule 5 pick Adrian Nieto, barring something unforeseen, appears ticketed for backup duty. If so, Nieto will make history and become the first catcher since Butch Wynegar in 1976 (and second overall) to leap from Class-A to the bigs. Rienzo and Surkamp will both be back with the Sox at some point in 2014.

The White Sox selected Nieto from the Nationals in December’s Rule 5 draft, so he’ll have to stick on the team’s 25-man roster to avoid being returned to the Nationals. Prior to Sunday’s game, the 24-year-old switch-hitter had gone 1-for-10 and received minimal playing time. However, the organization is likely to give him more looks moving forward with a need to start trimming its potential Opening Day roster. In 2013, Nieto batted .285/.373/.449 with 68 runs, 11 home runs and 53 RBI in 110 games at High-A Potomac. Keep in mind he’ll be making the rare jump from High-A to the major leagues should he break camp with the White Sox.

The White Sox kept Nieto on their active roster all of last season after taking him from the Nationals in the Rule 5 Draft, so they are now able to send him down to the minors. Tyler Flowers and Geovany Soto are likely to split catching duties with the big club.

Nieto appeared in 48 games for the White Sox in 2014 but batted just .236/.296/.340. He spent the entire 2015 season at Double-A Birmingham, slashing .207/.344/.316. Consider him emergency catching depth for Miami.

The move clears him from the 40-man roster. The former Rule 5 draft pick appeared in 48 games with the White Sox in 2014, but he played exclusively in Double-A this season while batting .207/.344/.316 over 81 games.