New Opportunity Has Developed For The White Sox

Less than a year after being the centerpiece of a blockbuster three-team, eight-player trade, Erick Fedde’s career has quickly headed south. The St. Louis Cardinals designated the 32-year-old right-hander for assignment earlier this afternoon, ending an unsuccessful tenure between the two parties. Despite his recent struggles, the Cardinals’ loss could be the White Sox treasure. A reunion with Fedde makes sense for multiple reasons.

Fedde's Fall From Grace

After a breakout 2024 season with the White Sox, Fedde has been unable to continue that positive momentum this season. His ERA sits at an inflated 5.22 across 101.2 innings, and his 5.09 FIP suggests he has not been unlucky either. Every pitch in his repertoire has become worse than last season per Baseball Savant’s run value, with his sweeper and cutter in particular falling off a cliff in effectiveness. 

The decline of his pitch effectiveness has disastrously impacted his stats. His K% has dropped over 7% from last season (21.2% to 14.1%), while his BB% has increased over 3% (7.2% to 10.5%). Opposing batters are also hitting .270 off of him compared to just .233 last season. 

Following another poor performance against the MLB-worst Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night in which he gave up six runs in three innings, Fedde admitted to reporters postgame that his confidence has taken a hit this season.

“Confidence, for sure, an all-time low. I’ve had lows and highs in this game and I’m just trying to be professional, show up every day and give it my best. The team deserves better and I’m trying to pick it up.” Fedde said.

The Cardinals gave him a long leash to turn things around, but they had seen enough. They officially parted ways this afternoon, paving the way for young right-hander Michael McGreevy to get an opportunity. Fedde will likely clear waivers over the next few days, allowing any interested team to bring him in for minimal money. 

White Sox Crumbling Pitching Depth

Despite his struggles, a reunion between Fedde and the White Sox could make sense. With just over a week until the trade deadline, Chicago will make several trades to continue their rebuild efforts. Adrian Houser will certainly head elsewhere, while Aaron Civale could also be on the move. Shane Smith recently went on the injured list, while Davis Martin has also battled injury issues. Martín Pérez is nearing a minor league rehab stint, but it is unclear how much he will be able to provide after a serious elbow injury suffered early in the season.

It won’t be long before the White Sox will need pitchers capable of starting games. Unfortunately, there are minimal reinforcements in the minors. The Triple-A Charlotte Knights have a hodgepodge of veterans and younger pitchers capable of starting games. Mike Clevinger, Noah Syndergaard, Jesse Scholtens, Yoendrys Gómez, and Evan McKendry all fall into this category. However, they are all either past their primes or never experienced much MLB success to begin with. Fedde would represent another option who is durable and takes the ball. He has started 81 games between the KBO and MLB over the past three seasons.

White Sox Reunion Makes Sense

Fedde’s prior success with the White Sox is also a factor. He signed a two year/$15 million contract with the team before the 2024 season after an excellent season with the NC Dinos in Korea. The South Siders gambled that Fedde had figured it out, and it appeared that he did while he was in Chicago. By far the best stretch of Fedde’s eight-year MLB career was with the White Sox last season when he pitched to an impressive 3.11 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 3.77 FIP, and 8.0 K/9 in 121.2 innings across 21 starts. He was one of the lone bright spots on a historically bad team. That familiarity with the organization and pitching coach Ethan Katz could be a reason to pursue this reunion.

Signing Erick Fedde at this juncture would offer the White Sox a fraction of the upside they had when they initially signed him. He is performing poorly again, and even if the team did get him back on track, they wouldn’t be able to trade him for anything. That said, they will need pitchers capable of eating innings soon to protect the younger pitchers on the team. Fedde can do that. It might be an avenue worth exploring.