The White Sox announced that they have reinstated the right-hander Matt Foster from the 60-day injured list. In a corresponding step, the right-hander Dominic Leone was placed directly on the 60-day IL with a strain of the right ulnar collateral ligament. Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reported on X before the official announcement that Foster would be activated and Leone would be placed on the IL.
Foster, now 29, had a decent performance with the Sox from 2020 to 2022. During that time, he made 108 appearances for the Sox and allowed 4.39 earned runs per nine innings. He struck out 23.7% of batters he faced and allowed 8.2% walks.
Unfortunately, he had to undergo Tommy John surgery in April 2023, which meant a completely lost season for him. He has been on the injured list since then and began rehab in June of this year. As part of that rehab, he has thrown 14 2/3 innings on the farm this year, with a 2.45 ERA, a 30.8% strikeout rate, and a 7.7% walk rate.
Foster qualified for arbitration for the first time after the 2023 season. Although he was still recovering from surgery, the Sox offered him a contract. However, because of his missed time, he could only get a raise to $750,000, which is barely above this year’s league minimum salary of $740,000.
Having already missed most of the season, he’ll likely be due another modest raise this winter. The Sox can take a close look at him over the next few weeks and decide what role he should play on their club next year.
As for Leone’s injury, it’s unclear how serious it is, but it’s obviously enough to end his season. Since he’s being placed directly on the 60-day IL, he won’t be able to return during the regular season. The Sox are headed for one of the worst seasons in history and currently have a 29-93 record, so the playoffs are obviously not even remotely a possibility.
The veteran signed a minor league contract with the Sox and made the opening day roster, but spent most of the season on the injured list. He was out for a few weeks in May because of lower back tightness. Just days after his return, he returned to the injured list because of inflammation in his right elbow. The elbow injury sidelined him for more than two months and he didn’t return until the first week of August.
Overall, he has thrown 19 innings this year, but won’t be able to add to that total. A UCL sprain doesn’t necessarily always result in surgery, but even the non-surgical recovery route requires a long layoff. If he does indeed require UCL surgery, it will likely wipe out his 2025 season, as the recovery time for such significant surgeries is more than a year. If he can avoid the operating table, he will look to return for a 12th consecutive MLB season. He has 427 career appearances with a 3.94 ERA.
