Hector Noesi was happy to be a member of the White Sox starting rotation earlier this season. He didn’t take his demotion to long man/spot starter nearly as well.
The White Sox designated Noesi for assignment on Thursday and recalled Scott Carroll from Triple-A Charlotte. Noesi -- who is earning $1.95 million this season and eventually lost his spot in the rotation to Carlos Rodon -- went 0-4 with a 6.89 ERA in 10 games (five starts) in a half season full of starts and stops.
The White Sox have 10 days to trade, waive or release, Noesi.
“Just the way the role evolved, it’s a better option for us to have Scotty in that role,” White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. “He’s better suited for that spot. I think for Hector he’s probably more a starter than he is a long relief guy. You end up bringing Scotty back and be able to give Hector that chance that if he can get somewhere else and get a shot at it he can.”
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Noesi started the team’s April 10 home opener. With several early days off, the White Sox skipped the fifth starter and Noesi didn’t pitch again until April 21. His next scheduled start was wiped out by rain, which pushed Noesi back to possibly working in Baltimore, only for the first two games there to be cancelled. Noesi was disappointed to be removed after 73 pitches in his May 2 start in Minneapolis and was hit by a line drive and knocked out of his May 9 outing, at which point Rodon took over. He made two relief appearances in between and on May 25 made his final start, since appearing in three games as a long reliever.
Having pitched in that role for part of 2014, the White Sox feel like Carroll is better suited to handle the unpredictability of the role. They still plan to monitor Rodon’s workload -- though he is scheduled to start Saturday -- which could lead to a start or two for Carroll. Carroll is 1-1 with a 3.12 ERA in 17 1/3 innings this season.
MLB
He was optioned to Charlotte during the May 28 doubleheader in Baltimore and fared well for the Knights, going 2-1 with a 2.30 ERA in three starts.
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Demoted so Chris Beck -- who went on the disabled list at Charlotte Thursday with right elbow inflammation -- could start the second game, Carroll isn’t afraid to say he wasn’t happy about the move.
“I haven't been told anything but I imagine (long man/spot starter is) probably what it is,” Carroll said. “It was very disappointing (to go down). I think any time you do a job that you're asked to do and then you perform at that level that you're capable of and what's expected of you and the numbers don't shake out in your way, it's kind of disappointing. But you just have to go with it and keep my innings up and pitch well and get back up here.”