10:35AM: The White Sox have officially announced the transaction, with Mendick placed on the 10-day IL (retroactive to May 2) due to lower back tightness.
10:17AM: Ramos will replace Mendick, as Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times (via X) reports that Mendick is being placed on the 10-day injured list with a back injury.
8:35AM: The White Sox are calling up third baseman Bryan Ramos from Double-A Birmingham, according to James Fox of the FutureSox website (X link). The corresponding 26-man roster move isn’t yet known, but Ramos has been on Chicago’s 40-man roster since November 2022.
Ramos will be bypassing the Triple-A level entirely in order to make his Major League debut whenever he makes his first appearance on the field. It is a pretty aggressive promotion for the White Sox to make with the 22-year-old, especially since Ramos wasn’t exactly forcing the issue with a slow start against Double-A pitching — an .182/.265/.307 slash line over 98 plate appearances with Birmingham this season. Ramos at least had better numbers in a longer sample size at Double-A in 2023, hitting .272/.369/.457 with 14 homers over 339 PA.
Injuries could be forcing Chicago’s hand, as Danny Mendick was scratched from yesterday’s lineup due to tightness in his lower back. While manager Pedro Grifol told MLB.com and other media that he didn’t think Mendick’s injury was too serious, that stance might have changed after some further testing, plus the White Sox are already short-handed at third base as it is. With Yoan Moncada out until late July due to an adductor strain, the hot corner has been a revolving door, with Mendick, Braden Shewmake, and Lenyn Sosa all getting starts in Moncada’s absence. Sosa is at Triple-A and infielder Zach Remillard is still in the organization after recently being outrighted off the 40-man roster, but it appears as though the White Sox will instead take a look at an up-and-coming prospect.
An international signing in July 2018, the Cuban-born Ramos posted solid numbers at A-ball in 2021, which led to his first taste of Double-A action in 2022. He spent the bulk of the 2023 campaign back at Birmingham, though he missed close to to two months of action with a groin injury. It could be that this missed time led the White Sox to start Ramos back at Double-A this season rather than move him to Triple-A Charlotte, and it might be that Ramos gets optioned to Charlotte rather than Birmingham if and when he is sent back down to the minors. Depending on Mendick’s status, Ramos might just be getting a cup of coffee in the Show as roster depth for a day or two.
Then again, since the 6-26 White Sox are already looking to the future, they might take this opportunity to give Ramos some real playing time. Moncada is in the last guaranteed year of his contract, and since it doesn’t seem like the Sox will exercise their $25MM club option on Moncada for 2025, Ramos could be viewed as an everyday candidate by Opening Day 2025….or even this season, depending on how he fares in his first looks against MLB pitching.
Baseball America and MLB Pipeline both rank Ramos as the fourth-best prospect in Chicago’s farm system, citing his power potential and hard-contact tendencies, even if breaking pitches remain a challenge. Defensively, Ramos has a 55-grade throwing arm and has made plenty of gains with his glovework at third base. Both scouting outlets made note of Ramos’ attitude and drive to improve, with BA’s scouting report noting that Ramos’ “makeup and work ethic…[is] described as being off the charts, and he has worked hard on firming his body since initially coming to the U.S.”
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