It’s been an offseason full of intriguing minor league deals for the White Sox, and that process continued this week.
According to MiLB Transactions on Twitter, the White Sox have reached an agreement on a minor league deal with RHP Felipe Tejada. This move is official on Tejada’s player page and he has been assigned to the Birmingham Barons.
Tejada, 23, is from the Dominican Republic and was signed as an International Free Agent back on September 15, 2014. He had been with the Astros’ organization from 2015 to 2021, working from the Dominican Summer League as a 17-year-old all the way to Double-A in 2021. He officially made the transition from a starting pitcher to a full-time reliever last season.
The right-hander had an intriguing 2021 in the Houston Astros organization, pitching in both High-A and Double-A. In High-A, he posted a 1.23 ERA with a 38.6% strikeout percentage in just eight games. As he advanced to Double-A and made 28 more appearances, he posted a 4.62 ERA with a 27.9% strikeout percentage, though his walk rate did fall from 10.5% in High-A to 7.3% in Double-A. On the season as a whole, Tejada was 5-4 with a 3.66 ERA in 51.2 IP. He struck out a total of 68 batters while walking 18, solid numbers all around. He has spent this winter playing for the Dominican Winter League, giving up no runs across 5.1 innings of work.
With his high strikeout rates and relatively low walk rates, Tejada on the surface appears to be an intriguing arm with the ability to make an impact. The next test for the 23-year-old will be repeating his success again at the Double-A level, and hopefully moving up to Triple-A sometime within the 2022 season.
Hopefully, this young and intriguing arm can find himself as a part of the White Sox’ bullpen picture to come.
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Featured Photo: Listin Diario
