With Welington Castillo going on the injured list for the second time in three weeks, the White Sox purchased the contract of top catching prospect Zack Collins from Class AAA Charlotte Tuesday.
The Sox also reinstated left-hander Jace Fry from the 10-day injured list and placed Castillo on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to June 17) with a strained left oblique before their game against the Cubs Tuesday night at Wrigley Field.
Fry landed on the injured list on June 10 (retro to June 8) with left shoulder soreness. He is 1-2 with a 5.79 ERA over 28 relief appearances this season.
The left-handed hitting Collins, 24, is batting .250/.374/.482 with nine home runs, 39 RBI, 33 runs scored and 36 walks over 50 games at Charlotte this season. He started 31 games at catcher and nine at first base. With Castillo and left-handed hitting designated hitter/first baseman Yonder Alonso struggling at the plate, it’s not clear yet how Collins will be used while he’s with the Sox and for how long he will remain on the major league roster.
Collins has better hitting splits against right-handers and is not expected to start Tuesday or Wednesday at Wrigley Field against Cubs starters Cole Hamels and Jon Lester, both lefties.
Baseball America labels Collins as having the Best Strike-Zone Discipline in the Sox system. Collins has thrown out 32.4 percent (97-299) of attempted base-stealers, although Collins’ defense has graded out below his bat. When Castillo landed on the concussion IL May 29, the Sox’ other top catching prospect, Seby Zavala, was called up from Charlotte.
The No. 10 overall pick in the 2016 draft, Collins is ranked 11th among Sox prospects according to MLB Pipeline (Zavala is 21st).
He will wear uniform No. 38.
Castillo, 32, suffered his injury in the Sox’ loss against the Yankees Sunday. He is batting .196 with five home runs over 34 games.
The Sox 40-man roster increases to 40.
