The Astros have traded outfielder Corey Julks to the White Sox, per bulletins from each golf equipment. The Astros, who designated Julks for task final week, will obtain minor league right-hander Luis Rodriguez in return. Julks has been optioned to Triple-A Charlotte. To open a 40-man spot for Julks, the Sox designated outfielder Rafael Ortega for task and recalled outfielder Dominic Fletcher to take Ortega’s spot on the lively roster.
Julks, 28, was an eighth-round choose of the Astros again in 2017 and wasn’t actually thought-about a really noteworthy prospect within the years following that choice. He put himself on the radar with a powerful 2022 season, hitting 31 house runs and stealing 22 bases in 130 Triple-A video games. Within the hitter-friendly setting of the Pacific Coast League, his .270/.351/.503 batting line led to a 108 wRC+.
That received him to the massive leagues in 2023 however he didn’t instantly hit the bottom operating within the majors. He stepped to the plate 323 instances for the Astros final 12 months and hit .245/.297/.352 for a wRC+ of 80, although he additionally stole 15 bases and received stable grades for his outfield protection.
He’s been again at Triple-A this 12 months and has one other 5 house runs and 6 extra steals in 31 video games. His 12.8% stroll fee is a number of factors increased than the 9.5% fee he had in 2022. His total manufacturing this 12 months is taken into account to be round league common for the PCL, however it’s an intriguing mixture of expertise.
Regardless of the fascinating stats, Julks is 28 years previous now and was blocked by a crowded outfield combine in Houston, in order that they nudged him off their roster. The White Sox have way more of a necessity and extra of a capability to take an opportunity on a participant like Julks, given their standing as a rebuilding membership.
Giving taking part in time to a veteran can yield to a optimistic consequence, because the Sox only in the near past traded Robbie Grossman to the Rangers for Anthony Hoopii-Tuionetoa. An identical path with a participant like Ortega would have been splendid however he hit .071/.176/.071 in his 17 plate appearances for the Sox in current weeks and wasn’t trending in the direction of any sort of Grossman-like return. The Sox determined it was a greater use of a roster spot to seize Julks and see how issues go together with him, whereas giving Ortega’s spot on the lively roster to Fletcher.
Julks nonetheless has two choices, which means he may doubtlessly be despatched to Triple-A for the remainder of this 12 months and another. He additionally has lower than a 12 months of service time, which means he could be cheaply retained for the foreseeable future.
For now, Fletcher will share the massive league taking part in time with guys like Andrew Benintendi, Tommy Pham and Gavin Sheets. Pham is on a one-year deal and might be a commerce candidate this summer time. Sheets may maybe be on the block as effectively since he’ll attain arbitration for the primary time this winter and has been in good type this 12 months. That might maybe open some taking part in time for Julks later within the 12 months, although the eventual return of Luis Robert Jr. from the injured checklist may also be an element. Oscar Colás and Zach DeLoach are additionally on the 40-man however neither is performing particularly effectively on non-compulsory task proper now.
For the Astros, they’ve Kyle Tucker, Yordan Alvarez, Chas McCormick, Jake Meyers, Mauricio Dubon, Joey Loperfido and Trey Cabbage of their outfield combine, with prospect Pedro León banging on the door as effectively. Since pitching depth is a higher concern for them, they lately grabbed Alex Speas off waivers and let go of Julks.
By doing so, they had been at the least ready so as to add a pitching prospect to their system. The 20-year-old Rodriguez tossed 33 innings over 15 appearances within the Dominican Summer time League final 12 months with a 3.55 earned run common, 32.6% strikeout fee and 4.3% stroll fee. In January, he received a short point out on the FanGraphs checklist of high White Sox prospect from Eric Longenhagen and Tess Taruskin. They famous that Rodriguez has a fastball within the 88-90 miles per hour vary and a powerful curveball.
The Sox will now have every week to commerce Ortega or go him by means of waivers. He was signed to a minor league deal this winter and added to the roster in late April. He has obtained sporadic taking part in time which hasn’t gone effectively for him, as talked about. He has sufficient service time that he can reject an outright task and elect free company. He had a powerful season with the Cubs in 2021, hitting .291/.360/.463 whereas stealing 12 bases and spending a whole lot of time in middle area. However he hit .241/.331/.358 the subsequent 12 months and received non-tendered, with solely restricted huge league seems since then.