KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chicago White Sox acquired second baseman César Hernández from Cleveland for minor leaguer Konnor Pilkingtony.
Hernández provides a power boost while filling in for injured starter Nick Madrigal.
“César Hernández provides our club with a valuable combination of a power bat in the middle infield and Gold-Glove quality defense,” said Sox general manager Rick Hahn in a statement. “Adding a player like César gives (manager) Tony (La Russa) a strong and proven option at second base for the stretch run of the season and hopefully into October.”
Hernández, 31, is slashing .231/.307/.431 with a career-high 18 home runs to go with 47 RBIs in 96 games for Cleveland.
His weighted runs created-plus (wRC+) — which estimates a player’s offensive contribution in terms of total runs and adjusts that number to account for external factors such as ballpark and era — is 100, according to fangraphs.com. The major league average is 100.
Hernández has a .272/.347/.388 career slash with 67 home runs and 320 RBIs in 986 games for the Philadelphia Phillies (2013-19) and Cleveland (20-21).
Hernández earned an American League Gold Glove at second base in 2020. His defensive runs saved is minus-6 this season, according to fangraphs.com.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan first reported the Sox were finalizing the deal. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale first reported Pilkington as the player moving to Cleveland’s organization.
Pilkington, 23, is 4-4 with a 3.48 ERA for Double-A Birmingham. The left-hander was a third-round pick in the 2018 draft.
To make room for Hernández on the 40-man roster, the Sox released pitcher Tyler Johnson. The right-hander is 0-1 with a 9.56 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 16 combined relief appearances between Triple-A Charlotte, Class A Winston-Salem and Class A Kannapolis.