The Chicago White Sox’s sell off continued Friday with the club sending veteran right-handers Lance Lynn and Joe Kelly to the Los Angeles Dodgers, multiple outlets reported.
According to ESPN, the White Sox received veteran outfielder Trayce Thompson and a pair of Double-A right-handers in the deal, acquiring starter Nick Nastrini and reliever Jordan Leasure.
The move comes after the White Sox traded right-handers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo Lopez to the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday.
Lynn, 36, fills the Dodgers’ need for starting pitching after their entire Opening Day rotation went on the injured list at some point in the first half. Left-hander Clayton Kershaw is due back soon from a shoulder injury, but Dustin May (elbow) was lost for the season and Noah Syndergaard (finger) was traded this week to the Cleveland Guardians.
Lynn is 6-9 with a 6.47 ERA in 21 starts this season as he has struggled with consistency. He was roughed up in an outing against the Dodgers on June 13 — five runs (four earned) over five innings — then went seven scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 6 and has given up a combined 16 runs (13 earned) over his past two starts.
In 12 seasons, Lynn is 129-93 with a 3.71 ERA in 330 appearances (306 starts) for the St. Louis Cardinals (2011-17), Minnesota Twins (2018), New York Yankees (2018), Texas Rangers (2019-20) and White Sox.
Kelly, 35, returns to Los Angeles, where he pitched for from 2019-21 and won the 2020 World Series title. Kelly is 1-5 with a 4.97 ERA in 31 relief appearances this season and is 52-37 with a 3.98 ERA in 439 career appearances (81 starts) for the Cardinals (2012-14), Boston Red Sox (2014-18), Dodgers and White Sox.
Kelly becomes the second player from the Dodgers’ World Series-winning team to return to the club this week. The Dodgers reacquired utility man Enrique Hernandez in a deal with the Boston Red Sox on Monday.
Thompson has been on the 60-day injured list with a left oblique strain and is eligible to come off Aug. 3.
The 32-year-old was selected by the White Sox in the second round of the 2009 draft and has been well-traveled since. He’s played for the White Sox (2015, 2018), Dodgers (2016-17, 2022-23), Oakland Athletics (2018), Chicago Cubs (2021) and San Diego Padres (2022).
In 36 games this season, he’s hitting .155 with five home runs and 14 RBIs in 36 games. In four rehab games, he has a .429 average (6-for-14) with a homer and four RBIs.
Nastrini, 23, was 5-3 with a 4.03 ERA for Double-A Tulsa this season, while Leasure, 24, was 2-2 with a 3.09 ERA in 29 appearances. Nastrini was a fourth-round draft pick by the Dodgers out of UCLA in 2021, while Leasure was a 14th-round pick out of Tampa in the same draft.
–Field Level Media