White Sox sign Chad Kuhl, Brett Phillips to MiLB deals

Once a sixth-round draft pick and top 100 prospect in baseball, Phillips came up through the Astros organization before making his debut with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2017. After hitting .276/.351/.448 in his rookie season, he was traded to the Royals, beginning his string of less-than-impressive offensive results. He is a career .187/.272/.347 hitter in parts of seven big league seasons with the Brewers, Royals, Rays, Angels, and Orioles. However, known for his high character and defense, he will fit right in with the current White Sox model. Since his debut in 2017, he ranks 18th among all outfielders with +32 OAA over that span – furthering Chris Getz’s emphasis on a defense-first team in 2024.

A former ninth-round draft pick, Kuhl made his debut with the team that drafted him – the Pirates – in 2013. Kuhl is a classic case of results never matching the stuff, having a career 4.98 ERA despite above-average movement on all of his pitches. He worked with a five-pitch mix in 2023 (changeup, sinker, curveball, fastball, and slider), though he was mainly a sinker/slider pitcher in 2023. Heading into his age 31 season after missing a lot of last season to be with his wife in her battle with breast cancer, Kuhl certainly is an easy player to root for, with the hope that Ethan Katz and Brian Bannister can find some value other teams have yet to extract.