White Sox deny purposefully leaving former player's name off scoreboard
Less than one week after bashing his former team, relief pitcher Keynan Middleton made his return to Guaranteed Rate Field to face the Chicago White Sox, this time as a member of the New York Yankees.
Middleton's name was interestingly left off the scoreboard when he made his appearance out of the bullpen, but the White Sox said it was not intentional and was due to a "glitch."
The 29-year-old Middleton was dealt to the Yankees hours before the Aug. 1 deadline.
According to ESPN's Jesse Rogers, Middleton's wild claims about his four-plus months spent on the South Side included rookies sleeping in the bullpen during games.
"We came in with no rules," the righthander said, per Rogers. "I don't know how you police the culture if there are no rules or guidelines to follow because everyone is doing their own thing. Like, how do you say anything about it because there are no rules? ... You have rookies sleeping in the bullpen during the game. You have guys missing meetings. You have guys missing PFPs (pitcher fielding practices), and there are no consequences for any of this stuff."
Chicago has been one of the most disappointing teams in the junior circuit in 2023 with a 47-69 record and were clear sellers ahead of the deadline. Per Rogers's report, Middleton said that the issues in the organization were happening prior to this season, when first-year manager Pedro Grifol earned the full-time job.
After spending the first four seasons of his career with the Los Angeles Angels from 2017-2021 and last year with the Seattle Mariners, he signed with the White Sox in January.
Rogers noted that the Pale Hose were contacted on Sunday night about Middleton's claims but had no comment.
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