The Yankees announced that right-hander Colby White has been sent outright to Double-A Somerset. That indicates the righty cleared waivers after being designated for assignment earlier this week.
White, 25, was claimed off waivers from the Rays two weeks ago. By keeping him on their roster for that short amount of time and then passing him through waivers, the Yankees will get to keep him as non-roster depth. This is his first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, meaning he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency.
The righty was a sixth-round pick of the Rays in 2019 but hasn’t been able to pitch much in the early parts of his professional career. After a brief stint in Low-A in 2019, the minor leagues were cancelled by the pandemic in 2020. The year after, White went through four levels, finishing at Triple-A. He had a 1.44 earned run average in 62 1/3 innings, striking out a massive 45% of batters faced while giving out walks just 6.5% of the time.
Tommy John surgery early in 2022 wiped out that entire season, but the Rays nonetheless added him to their roster at the end of that year. After the numbers he put up in 2021, they understandably feared that he might get poached in the Rule 5 draft.
He returned to the mound last year but control, or the lack thereof, has become a mounting concern. He tossed 22 innings last year with a 1.64 ERA, striking out 27.6% of batters faced but also giving out walks 19.5% of the time. The free passes have finally caught up to him here in 2024, as he has walked a massive 23.1% of batters faced. That’s led to 17 earned runs allowed in 8 1/3 innings for an ERA of 18.36.
Now White will try to get over those control problems and get back on track. If he can get anywhere close to the kind of form he showed prior to his surgery, he could be a useful piece down the road for the Yanks.
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