After selecting right-hander Shane Smith first overall in Wednesday’s MLB Rule 5 Draft, the White Sox also utilized their first pick in the minor league phase. With it, the team selected righty reliever Joseph Yabbour from the Mets organization and assigned him to Triple-A Charlotte for the time being.
Yabbour, 21, is not ranked among the Mets’ top prospects per MLB Pipeline. The cousin of Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr., Yabbour originally got his start in 2019 when he signed with the Twins as a minor league free agent. He was assigned to their FCL team in 2021 and released the following year. He then spent the 2023 campaign with the Mariners’ DSL team, posting a 3.60 ERA and 12.6 K/9 before electing free agency at season’s end.
This past season, Yabbour signed with New York on a minor league deal and made 10 appearances for their Rookie League affiliate, owning a 3.24 ERA and 1.16 WHIP over 25 innings thrown. RoboScout ranked him as the No. 9 overall pitcher at the complex level before his promotion to Low-A St. Lucie at the end of June. From there, Yabbour struggled pretty mightily over the next few months, finishing with an 8.69 BB/9 and 8.24 ERA over 19.2 innings despite maintaining a 12.81 K/9 rate.
Though still far too young to make an impact at the major-league level, Yabbour possesses an upper-90s fastball and attractive secondary pitches. The White Sox will reassign him to a lower-level affiliate ahead of the 2025 season and look for him to turn things around from his forgetful second half.
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Featured Photo: Helene Haessler/St. Lucie Mets
