The White Sox shuffled their outfield picture Wednesday, recalling outfielder Dominic Fletcher from Triple-A Charlotte, trading for Corey Julks and designating Rafael Ortega for assignment.
Fletcher, who made the Opening Day roster as the every-day right fielder after coming from the Diamondbacks in a trade for pitching prospect Cristian Mena, was batting .203/.277/.271 when he was optioned to Charlotte three weeks ago.
At Charlotte, Fletcher batted .238/.319/.405 in 11 games.
Ortega was 1-for-14 in 14 games for the Sox.
Julks, 28, comes from the Astros in exchange for right-hander Luis Rodriguez. He was batting .266/.358/.444 with five home runs and six stolen bases in 31 games with Triple-A Sugarland this season. He was designated for assignment by the Astros on Friday.
After making his debut against the Sox on Opening Day last season and spending most of 2023 with the Astros, Julks hit .245 with six home runs, 33 RBI and 15 steals in 93 games.
He could see time on the major-league roster soon.
“Our front office did a good job of identifying a right-handed hitter that we could use at some point, especially with this string of lefties that we’ve got in the next couple of days, the next couple of series [at the Yankees and Blue Jays], and there’s a possibility that he’s a part of us,” manager Pedro Grifol said.
“We’ll see where he is. I know he hasn’t played in five, six days. We’ll see how that plays out.”
Rodriguez, 20, was 0-1 with a 7.36 ERA in two games with the Arizona Complex League White Sox in 2024.
Lee on roll
Catcher Korey Lee (3-for-3) extended his hitting streak to five games and is batting .414 with a 1.008 OPS in the last eight games.
Lee and Eloy Jimenez notched the second stolen bases of their careers.
Soroka deals with it
Michael Soroka thought he was making strides and didn’t like being demoted to the bullpen but took it well.
“It’s not my job to agree or disagree with any of the decisions made,” Soroka said. “It’s my job to go out there and be an animal. It’s what I always prided myself on, and I think I got away from that a little bit.
‘‘It’s a good time to go show it’s still in there.’’
Brad Keller takes Soroka’s turn in the rotation against the Yankees on Saturday in New York. Soroka is 0-5 with a 6.39 ERA in nine starts.
This and that
Left-hander Garrett Crochet (six against the Nationals) has 70 strikeouts in his first 10 career starts, passing Chris Sale (68) in 2012 for the most in franchise history.
Sox pitchers own a 2.82 ERA in the last 13 games, and starters have a 1.81 ERA in the last seven.
• Closer Michael Kopech extended his scoreless streak to five games.
Kopech also pitched the ninth in a non-save situation in the second game of the doubleheader Tuesday.
• The Sox threw consecutive shutouts for the first time since July 9 and 10 in 2015.
