White Sox Fill Second Base Hole, Acquire Cesar Hernandez From Indians

Image credit: Cesar Hernandez (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)

The White Sox suffered a litany of injuries this season, losing Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert and Nick Madrigal early on.

Jimenez is back and Robert isn’t far behind, but with Madrigal out for the season, the White Sox needed to go outside the organization to find a solution for the stretch run.

The White Sox got the second baseman they needed on Thursday, acquiring veteran Cesar Hernandez from the Indians in exchange for minor league lefthander Konnor Pilkington.

Hernandez immediately slots into the White Sox’s lineup as their starting second baseman, and fills one of the few holes they had. Pilkington was the White Sox’s No. 24 prospect.

 

 

INDIANS ACQUIRE

Konnor Pilkington, LHP
Age: 23

A third-round pick out of Mississippi State in 2018, Pilkington rose to Double-A this season and went 4-4, 3.48 in 14 starts. He had 71 strikeouts and 21 walks in 62 innings. Pilkington’s fastball has ticked up from 89-92 mph in college to 90-94 mph this season. His changeup is his best secondary offering as an above-average pitch and his slider and curveball have each improved to give him a solid four-pitch mix. While nothing he throws is plus, he has a good feel for using all four pitches and throws plenty of strikes. He has a chance to rise as a back-of-the-rotation starter or swingman.

WHITE SOX ACQUIRE

Cesar Hernandez, 2B
Age: 31

Hernandez traded some average for power this season and has hit a career-high 18 home runs already, albeit with a career-low .231 batting average. He increased his launch angle and is posting the lowest ground ball rate (45.5%) and highest fly ball rate (25.3%) of his career, which should play well at Guaranteed Rate Field. Hernandez won a Gold Glove at second base last year but has been a below-average defender this season. He is signed through the end of this year and has a $6 million team option for 2021.