Dan

Altavilla

Altavilla and Bowman were in Twins camp as non-roster invitees this spring attempting to win spots in the club’s bullpen. Altavilla made 28 appearances for the White Sox last year. Bowman got into 20 contests for the Orioles last season and should be able to latch on somewhere, likely on a minor league pact.

That just can’t help a guy’s standing. While the team recently dropped Liam Hendricks and Andrew Chafin, Altavilla remains in the mix for a spot in the Twins pen. Being that just about anyone could wind up as Minnesota’s closer, that makes him worth paying attention to. Still, he hasn’t been particularly impressive, especially in going without a whiff in the 17-pitch outing today.

Altavilla spent 2025 with the White Sox, and the 33-year-old forged a 2.48 ERA and 1.17 WHIP in his 29 innings with Chicago. He’ll compete for one of the final bullpen spots this spring.

The 33-year-old hurler had been designated for assignment earlier in the week. He was never going to accept an outright assignment to Triple-A Charlotte, so the White Sox went right ahead and granted him his outright release. Altavilla posted a solid 2.48 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and a 21/15 K/BB ratio over 29 innings with the White Sox. It shouldn’t take him long to find another opportunity.

Altavilla is removed from the active roster and the 40-man group. The 33-year-old will hit the waiver wire, and he’s almost assuredly looking at a minor-league deal with a chance he doesn’t find a new organization until after the 2025 season concludes.

Altavilla missed a month with a strained right lat. He’ll return to pitching in late-game situations after amassing a 2.36 ERA in 26 2/3 innings during June and July.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Altavilla’s season is over given the nature of the injury with less than two months left in the year. The 32-year-old righty has continued to vulture the occasional save in recent weeks as part of Chicago’s closer committee, recording a stellar 2.36 ERA over 26 2/3 innings (25 appearances) overall.

Altavilla loaded the bases and made the White Sox sweat out their two-run lead here before finally getting out of the jam. This was his second save of the season and is now the fourth different pitcher to earn a save over the last four converted saves for Chicago. Grant Taylor came into this game in the sixth inning to get out of a jam and Jordan Leasure – the winning pitcher – handled the seventh. It’s impossible to rely on any reliever in this bullpen for saves when there are so few to go around and they’re being dispersed like this.

Altavilla might have gotten a save opportunity in the first game today, but the White Sox gave up three runs in the eighth to fall behind. Pitching the top of the 10th in the second game, he gave up a game-tying single to score the automatic runner and later a homer to Lars Nootbaar for the first runs he’s surrendered in nine appearances since joining the White Sox. He still seems like the favorites for saves in a pen that doesn’t produce many of them.

His previous save came with the Mariners in 2020. The 32-year-old Altavilla has pitched five scoreless innings since joining the White Sox, though he did walk his fourth batter today. Still, he might be the favorite for saves in the team’s pen for now. We wouldn’t recommend rushing to pick him up.