It’s now September, which means the MLB roster expands from 26 players to 28. Teams are allowed to call up one position player and one pitcher. The Chicago White Sox used that opportunity to select the contract of Jairo Iriarte from Double-A Birmingham.
The 22-year-old right-hander will skip Triple-A altogether and join the big league club. According to MLB Pipeline, he is currently the White Sox’s fifth overall prospect. Iriarte was already on the 40-man roster, so no move was necessary to add him to the roster.
The Venezuelan native began his career with the San Diego Padres at 19. He would reach as high as Double-A as a member of the Padres organization, primarily as a starting pitcher. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox before the 2024 season, along with Drew Thorpe, Samuel Zavala, and Steven Wilson for Dylan Cease.
Iriarte has been one of the best White Sox pitchers in their minor league organizations this season. In 22 starts and 23 games pitched this year, he recorded a 5-7 record, posting a 3.71 ERA and striking out 122 batters throughout 126 innings of work.
It will be interesting to see if Iriarte gets a crack at the rotation this September or if the White Sox plan to utilize him in their bullpen. Currently, the White Sox have the worst record in baseball, with over 100 losses. We will see if Iriarte works some longer innings in hopes of cracking the White Sox 2025 rotation.
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Photo Credit: Jairo Iriarte #36 of the Birmingham Barons pitches during the game between the Montgomery Biscuits and the Birmingham Barons at Rickwood Field on Tuesday, June 18, 2024 in Birmingham, Alabama. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
