Chicago White Sox Power Hitter Heads Back To Triple-A

CHICAGO – Ten games into his major league career, Tim Elko is headed back to Triple-A.

The White Sox announced prior to Friday's game that they have optioned the first baseman to the Charlotte Knights. Manager Will Venable said he expects Elko to return to the big leagues later this summer and be a better player when he's back.

"This is, for him, as much part of the roster crunch as anything," Venable said. "It’s not because of anything he did. He did a great job. He continued to get comfortable up every day at the plate. You saw the plus defense and the good base running, too. Just want him to go down and do his thing and be ready for his next opportunity."

Across 32 plate appearances, Elko totaled three home runs, five RBI, four runs, five hits. His home run Wednesday against the Mariners and Saturday against the Cubs represent the two hardest-hit home runs of the White Sox season, with exit velocities of 110.6 mph and 111.1 mph, respectively.

"He hit some big homers for us. We certainly expect him back," White Sox general manager Chris Getz said. "But we opted to balance out the lineup, do a little bit more things defensively and maintain the depth for the remainder of the season."

While Elko's power showed up as he transitioned to big leagues, his 10-to-1 strikeout ratio and slash line of .161/.188/.452/.639 left room for improvement. But Getz still believes Elko can be a long-term piece.

"I do. He showed the power. He hit some big home runs for us. He made some really nice plays at first base," Getz said. "There are some areas of his game that can improve offensively. Tighten up the strike zone, there was some chase. But this opportunity for him to get up here, he can get a taste for what the big leagues is about, see some of the arms that he did. We played two first-place clubs, with the Cubs and Seattle, and to be able to be able to experience that is going to be very valuable for someone like Tim Elko. He's a bright kid, hard-worker and has made a lot of adjustments in his career. I do think that Tim Elko has a major league career in front of him."