CHICAGO –– Tuesday’s game between the White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays comes with a rare coincidence.
Back on May 20, the White Sox signed right-handed pitcher Adrian Houser to a one-year, $1.35 million contract. To make room for Houser on the 40-man roster, right-hander Yoendrys Gomez was designated for assignment. Fast forward nearly four months later, and Houser and Gomez are the starting pitchers for Tuesday’s 6:40 p.m. CT game at Rate Field.
After beginning the season with Triple-A Round Rock, Houser recorded a 2.10 ERA across 68.2 innings and 11 starts with the White Sox, warranting All-Star consideration. The rebuilding organization then flipped the 32-year-old at the trade deadline for three young pieces: infielder Curtis Mead and pitchers Duncan Davitt and Ben Peoples.
General manager Chris Getz saw it as a win for multiple aspects of the White Sox organization.
“Credit to [Houser] with his performance in a White Sox uniform,” Getz said on July 31. “Underneath the performance, I’m really proud we were able to identify some changes in what Adrian Houser had been working on in his performance when he was in Triple-A with the Texas Rangers and being able to convert on signing him and bringing him in here. He did have opportunities to go elsewhere. Being able to provide the runway and more than anything he deserves all the credit.”
“But I was also very proud of us identifying him and being able to get as much as we did out of Adrian Houser. … To think we were able to find three players that feel like can be part of our Major League club in the near future, that’s pretty remarkable work overall. Certainly very grateful for what Adrian has done in a White Sox uniform.”
Houser hasn’t been quite as sharp with Tampa Bay, posting a 4.91 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP across his first six starts. In his first outing with the Rays, he was roughed up by the Los Angeles Angels and allowed a season-high 11 hits and five earned runs.
He shut out the San Francisco Giants on across five innings on Aug. 16, but has given up at least four earned runs in four of his six starts with the Rays. During Houser’s last start Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners, he struck out a season-high eight batters but still allowed four earned runs.
The added familiarity for both parties creates a unique wrinkle as they prepare for Tuesday’s matchup, but manager Will Venable said the White Sox are focused on maintaining what’s led to winning seven of the last eight games –– their best stretch of the season.
“I don’t think it’s any different. One for us, going into this game, it’s about us continuing to do the things that we’ve been doing and we want to do and we know we have to do to play well,” Venable said.
“In the case of Adrian, we loved having him here. We know he’s a great competitor, a great teammate. So we know we’ll have our work cut out for us. He’s also pitched well this whole year, which we saw first hand. So yeah, excited about the challenge and excited to be able to compete against him.”
Mead is the only player the White Sox received in the trade who has played in the Major Leagues so far. Through 102 plate appearances with his new team, he has a career-high .274 batting average and an OPS of .660, which is near-identical to what he produced in 2024 with the Rays.
The Rays moved Mead up and down between the major and minor leagues for three straight seasons from 2023-25. But now with the White Sox, he’s been given a longer runway –– starting each of the last 11 games –– as he attempts to prove he can stick in the big leagues for the long haul. Mead is starting at third base and batting seventh Tuesday against the Rays.
The other two pieces in the trade were minor league pitchers Duncan Davitt and Ben Peoples. Since joining the White Sox organization, Davitt has a 4.38 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP across seven starts and 37 innings with the Triple-A Charlotte Knights. Peoples has given up seven earned runs in 11.1 innings while striking out eight batters and walking six as a reliever for the Knights.
